


Do you know me, we’ll take it really slowly

by fortunehasgivenup



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: AU, Arguing, Dirty Talk, Domestic, Established Relationship, Exes, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fingerfucking, Jealousy, Leading to Real Relationship, Making Up, Masturbation, Meet the Family, Moving In Together, Oral Sex, Post-Divorce, Pregnant Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Sex in a Car, Squirting, Table Sex, Teasing, Unhealthy Relationships, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unprotected Sex, Vaginal Sex, Woman on Top, gun range
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2020-05-15 09:37:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 58,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19293091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunehasgivenup/pseuds/fortunehasgivenup
Summary: When Beth spots Dean across the crowded bar, she panics and asks a guy sitting by himself to pretend to be her boyfriend. He agrees. It doesn’t take long for Beth to realize that she may have bit off more than she could handle with Rio.





	1. Only exes that I care about are in my fucking chromosomes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on this message to medievalraven: au where beth is at a bar, sees dean with a really young date, panics, grabs the nearest stranger and says "hi my name is beth, my asshole ex husband is here with someone half my age, please pretend to be my boyfriend" and rio's just like "i'll do it in exchange for your phone number".

The second that Beth saw Dean across the bar, her stomach dropped. Then she caught sight of The Girl at his side. Was she even old enough to be in here? Now, despite all of the energy she’d put into getting ready and actually leaving her house all by herself, she just wanted to sink into the bar floor along with whatever other things had been spilled on it tonight.

Dean turned in her direction and Beth immediately regretted her decision to impersonate a deer in headlights.

Fuck.

She did not need to deal with him right now, let alone him with The Girl. She saw Dean recognize her even as she turned away, scanning her surroundings for somewhere she could duck away or maybe a friend that she recognized. A former coworker. A long hated rival. Anything. Anyone.

God, now she looked like she was running, didn’t she? Was that worse than having to have a conversation with the two of them? As Amber gave her pitying calf eyes and Dean looked torn between boasting about his barely legal girlfriend - emphasis on girl - and begging Beth to take him back.

Beth’s eyes landed on the guy sitting on a barstool by himself, no sign that he was with anyone. Handsome, lean, giant tattoo on his neck. A few days worth of stubble on his cheeks and chin adding to the aura of “Don’t fuck with me” that just seemed to emanate from him.

Beth swallowed, then made an impulsive decision. She stepped up to him.

“Hi, my name is Beth,” she said. He turned his head towards her, raised an eyebrow at her introduction. “This is going to sound really weird, but my asshole ex-husband is coming over here with his new girlfriend that’s like half my age. Would you be willing to pretend that you’re my boyfriend for the next five minutes?”

He looked a little surprised, then he glanced up over her shoulder, just for a second before his brown eyes came back to hers. 

“Wearing a light grey suit, kind of goofy looking?” His voice was deep, raspy. Beth nodded. “A’ight. One condition.”

She tensed.

“You give me your phone number,” he grinned at her, the action softening him as the skin around his eyes crinkled.

Beth was surprised, but nodded.

“What are you drinking?” He waved the bartender over.

“Bourbon, on the rocks,” Beth told him. Dean must have been getting close by now, but she didn’t dare turn around. “What’s your name?”

He ducked his head so he was speaking into her ear. Beth knew that they must have appeared incredibly intimate, especially when she raised her hand and set it on his denim clad arm. 

“Rio,” he said. “Call me Rio.”

Then he straightened and relayed her order just as Dean reached them.

“Bethie!”

She stiffened instinctively, the childish nickname stabbing a little deeper than she was comfortable with.

Rio slowly turned his head away from the bartender to take Dean in, giving him an obvious once over and finding him wanting. 

“You know him, babe?” He asked, standing up and wrapping a possessive arm around her waist as Beth turned to face Dean and Amber.

“This is my ex-husband,” Beth said, “Dean.”

“Right,” Rio managed to drag out the syllable for just long enough to make it clear how he felt.

Dean looked at Rio, then down at Beth, then back at Rio. “And you are?”

“Her man,” Rio’s arm pulled her a little closer so she was pressed against him, “Rio.”

Dean’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t know you were seeing someone, Beth. The kids didn’t mention anything.”

Of course they hadn’t. Beth wasn’t seeing anyone, not really. That being said, she also had no intention of being the kind of woman who brought every new man around her kids.

“Yes,” Beth kept her voice sweet, “well, I thought it was best to spend time with Rio getting to know him before bringing him into our children’s lives.” She glanced at Amber. “Stability is important.”

Dean flushed.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Amber said, picking up on the awkwardness of the situation, then fled.

Rio chuckled, a sound that settled in Beth’s belly. “I should probably be thanking you, man,” he told Dean. “The day I met Elizabeth was one of the best days of my life. It’s not often you get a shot at such a beautiful woman, let alone one with her personality and confidence.”

Oh god, he was laying it on a little thick. Beth bit the inside of her cheek. There was no way to stop him without making their charade obvious.

“Finding a woman that you can really be yourself with is the dream, right?” Rio went on. “And the sex?” Rio’s hand dropped to her hip and whistled. “I’m pretty sure that she made me see God earlier.”

Beth’s bourbon was placed on the bar and she grabbed it, needing to do something with her hands.

“You okay, man?” Rio asked. “You’re looking a little red.”

Beth returned her attention to Dean, who was, in fact, looking awfully red. Kind of splotchy.

“I’m fine,” Dean said, clearly gritting his teeth and glancing around for Amber.

“If you say so.” Rio moved his arms, hooking them around her shoulders to pull her into him. Beth gave him her weight, feeling her heart skip as she came in contact with his solid chest. He looked deceptively small, Beth realized. Probably on purpose. “Most men don’t realize that women and scotch have a lot in common.”

After a moment, Dean took the bait. “Like what?”

Rio laughed. “They get better with age.” He kissed her temple then looked around. “What happened to your niece? She get lost or something?”

With that, Dean gave up. “I’ll talk to you later, Beth,” he said, then moved to intercept Amber. Beth watched him practically drag her towards the door.

“Damn, how long you stay married to that fool?” Rio asked, not releasing her.

Beth cleared her throat, then reached up to tug at his arm. He dropped both of them, leaning back against his barstool. Beth took the one next to him and sipped her bourbon. He’d bought the nice stuff. Top shelf. She savoured the taste of it on her tongue.

“Too long.”

“How many kids?” He asked, lifting his own drink.

Beth held up four fingers and waggled them.

Rio choked, coughing a few times. “F’real?” Beth nodded. “Shit, I’ve got one and he makes me feel like I’m being run ragged.”

“After the second, you basically stop noticing the difference in the workload,” Beth lied to him.

He opened his mouth slightly, narrowed his eyes. “Bullshit,” he eventually replied. “No way in hell that’s true.”

She buried her face in her glass. “Fine, it’s not.”

“Didn’t think so.” Rio looked a little smug. 

Beth took another dainty sip of her bourbon, then set it down. “Did you have to lay it on that thick?”

His brows drew together. “What do you mean?”

“The sex made you see God?” Beth snorted. His lips twitched. “Calling yourself my new man? Calling Amber his niece?”

“Yeah, he didn’t seem like the type to pick up on subtlety, Elizabeth.” He threw back the last of his drink, then pulled his wallet from the inside of his jacket, taking out a couple of bills and passing them to the bartender as he walked by them. 

“So what do you say?” Rio stood up and extended his hand towards her. “Want to get out of here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by medievalraven and neveroffanon.
> 
> Title from Maruv’s Siren Song. Chapter title is from Lizzo’s Like A Girl. Again. I just love it.
> 
> I have no idea how long this will be, but it’s mostly going to be Rio screwing with Dean (and also screwing Beth, but in a very different way). Probably shortish chapters. I haven’t really decided whether Rio is doing canon Rio work or not. 
> 
> There will be explicit sexual content in the next chapter.


	2. Don't Make Me Wait For Your Loving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go back to Rio’s place. Like, zero plot.

When Beth had decided to go to the bar earlier that night, she’d just been looking to get a drink. At her age, she’s sure enough about herself that while she knows she’s capable of drinking alone, she’s feeling lonely enough these days that she hadn’t wanted to drink alone at home. 

She hadn’t been planning on hooking up with anyone.

What was that saying? We make plans and God laughs?

“C’mon,” Rio said as he led her outside by their joined hands. “Let’s go back to mine.”

Beth hesitated.

“I’ll make you breakfast in the morning and everything.” His grin was a little crooked. “You vegetarian or anything?”

She shook her head as he stopped next to a black car - spotless, with heavily tinted windows.

Beth looked at the car, then up at him. “How do I know you’re not a serial killer?” She was only half-joking. How did Annie deal with this stuff? Beth tried to remember what her sister had told her, but the only thing that came to mind was Ruby yelling, “Don’t get murdered!” at Annie.

Still smiling, he reached into jacket and pulled out his wallet. 

“Send a picture of my ID to a friend,” he offered, flipping it open and pulling out a driver’s license. Beth looked at it, then him. “What?”

“I - I guess I hadn’t thought you’d be okay with that,” Beth said, lifting her phone and snapping a picture to send to Ruby and Annie. Rio Christopher Garcia. 34 years of age. Address not far away.

He shrugged. “If a guy isn’t okay with it, don’t go anywhere with him,” he told her. “Did you drive here tonight?” He looked around, probably trying to guess what she drove.

Beth shook her head. “I was going to Uber home.”

Even before she could type a message there was one from Annie. _WHO IS HE AND IS HE SINGLE_

 _I’m going back to his place_ , Beth replied. _I’ll message you guys in the morning._

She lowered her phone.

“Done?”

“Yeah, although it looks like I’m gonna be having a fun phone call with my sister tomorrow morning,” Beth replied. “That is, if she doesn’t break into my house to wait for me.”

He put his wallet away with a laugh. “Older sister?”

“She’s younger, actually,” Beth said. 

“Yeah?” His eyebrow went up and he stepped closer. 

His eyes moved around her face. “You gonna let me kiss you?” He asked.

Beth swallowed. Nodded. 

“Good to know,” he said, then reached around her to grab the door handle.

He opened the passenger side door for her and shut it behind her once she was in. She had a few seconds to glance around the car’s interior while he walked around to his side and she regained her breath.

There wasn’t much to see. It was neat, none of the mess she would expect from someone with a son. But maybe he only has visitation, her overactive mind suggested.

Rio opened his door and got in. “Find anything of interest?” He asked, giving her a smirk as he turned the engine on and began to back out of the parking space. 

His right arm came out to touch the back of her seat as he looked over his shoulder. Beth caught a whiff of leather, with something underneath it that must have been Rio.

“You have a very clean car,” Beth told him.

He shifted out of reverse. “Yeah, I do. The booster seat stays at my place or in the trunk if I’m not using it. If that’s what you were wondering about.”

Beth groaned. “Am I that obvious?”

“It was just a guess,” he shrugged.

“How old is he?” Beth asked. “Your son.”

“Marcus,” Rio said. “He’s six.”

“My youngest, Jane, just turned six.”

“Yeah?” Rio looked at her. “Four kids,” he said, “you must drive some type of minivan.”

Beth covered her smile with her hand. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No?” Rio glanced at her. “You just stack ‘em all in the back seat?”

She couldn’t help laughing. “Okay, fine,” she admitted, “I drive a minivan. It’s very convenient and has a high safety rating.”

“Uh huh,” Rio agreed, sounding not a little bit sarcastic. “How you like it?”

Beth glanced around his car. “I wouldn’t mind driving something like this every so often. God, parking must be so much easier.”

“Can’t complain.”

It didn’t take them long to reach his building. Just from the outside, it appeared absurdly nice, clearly one of the renovated old buildings that were going for top dollar now that the units inside had been converted into living spaces. 

She didn’t really bother looking around, intent on Rio himself as he led her up the stairs to the third floor, stopping at every landing to cradle her jaw and kiss her. The first time that he did it, he kept the kiss shallow, just teasing Beth with the promise of more. It was enough to make her whimper softly when he pulled away.

His lips were soft, his tongue demanding, she learned at the next stop. His hands on the back of her neck made her feel as though every part of her was just a little bit more alive.

With each stop, he deepened the kiss a little more. He slid his hand down to rest on her ass. He pulled her closer. He pressed her into the wall of the stairwell. Each touch made Beth shiver and each parting made her long for more.

She didn’t even notice him getting his key out, but he barely needed to detach his mouth from hers to get his door open and pull her inside.

“It’s been a while,” she panted when Rio stopped kissing her senseless to move his lips to her neck. 

He just nipped her chest just above the fabric of her dress as he toppled her back onto the bed.

“S’okay,” he told her, hands going to the hem of his t-shirt and peeling it up and off, revealing a body corded with muscle. Beth wanted to reach out and touch. Or hide herself. One of the two. “I’m good with warming you back up.”

Rio joined her on the bed, inching up the hem of her dress to reveal her thighs.

Beth was taken aback when he started to kiss the skin on the inside of her knee, slowly inching upwards.

“Your skin is so soft,” he said, nuzzling a particularly soft part of her thigh. 

“Thanks?” Beth replied.

He chuckled, running his teeth over her skin until he was bumping against the edge of her panties.

Beth sat up. “I wasn’t planning for this,” she blurted out.

“Okay,” Rio said, hooking his fingers under the sides of her underwear to pull them off.

“I’m not wearing cute underwear and I haven’t exactly been -“

Rio huffed and yanked her panties off, tossing them over his shoulder. “You think I give a shit about that?”

Beth shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He pulled her towards the edge of the bed. “Nah,” he drawled, pushing her dress up. “Got better things to be doing.”

Still looking right into her eyes he grinned, showing teeth, and lowered his head back down. He pressed his lips closer and closer to the apex of her thighs, eyes still on hers, only to stop in the same spot, right before reaching it.

She almost asked what was wrong, but his hands under her dress, sliding it up, were answer enough. He skipped over her cunt, but set his mouth against her belly, then higher as he pushed her dress up.

Beth looked down at her fairly unsexy bra and wanted to groan. But apparently that was another thing that Rio didn’t give a shit about, because he dropped his head down between her breasts and began to lick them where they swelled above the fabric.

“You’ve got beautiful tits,” he said conversationally. “Anyone ever tell you that?”

“Since I was 13.”

He sat up. “What?”

“That’s when it started,” Beth shrugged. 

His expression was slowly transforming into one of anger. “That’s messed up.”

Beth nodded. That she could agree with.

“They are beautiful though,” he lowered himself on top of her, “and I want to touch them. Can I touch them, Elizabeth?”

She lifted herself up slightly so that she could wiggle her hands underneath her back in order to unclasp her bra. Instead of immediately diving in, Rio stroked the side of her neck and kissed her. 

It was a sweet kiss, the kind that you might give someone at the door when you knew people were watching. A first date kiss. 

He pulled away to help her draw the straps of her bra down her arms and tossed it aside, hopefully near her dress and panties.

Then he just looked at her. It barely took five seconds before Beth was squirming under the attention. 

“I’m not twenty something anymore,” she tried to joke, wishing that he hadn’t turned the lights on when they’d come in.

Cupping the side of her breast, he palmed it, pushing her nipple towards his mouth. “The thing you haven’t considered,” Rio said, opening his mouth over her areola to suck before pulling off and letting her breast bounce, “is that if I wanted to fuck a twenty something who thinks she’s hot shit with two hundred dollar underwear and a plan to get me through my cock, then I’d be fucking that girl.”

He tilted his head and repeated the action, seeming to want to get as much of her tit into his mouth as he could as he flattened his tongue against her nipple.

“What’s that mean?” Beth asked, panting slightly. “Get you through your -“ she couldn’t even say it. God, Beth, what are you even doing, she asked herself.

He pulled his mouth away. “Cock, Elizabeth,” he said, rubbing his nose against the tight nipple. “It means that there’s plenty of girls in a bar like that with a hankering for power, for money and they know I’ve got that.”

He slipped his hands down to rub at her before he entered her cunt with one long finger.

“They think,” he crooked his finger and started to fuck her with it, “that they can open their legs for me and I’ll buy them nice things. They think I just want to get my cock wet.”

Beth hissed. “You don’t?”

“Oh believe me, sweetheart,” Rio lifted his head so it was even with hers, “I love pussy. But I’m not on the hunt for someone I’ve gotta babysit.” When he kissed her, he didn’t even tease, just slid his tongue into her mouth as he started to work a second finger inside of her.

“You can take care of yourself, can’t you, Elizabeth?” He asked. “You just shouldn’t have to.”

He tasted slightly of liquor as they kissed, his fingers pumping in and out of her. It was Beth who broke the kiss to moan, to clutch at his arm as he finger fucked her. His mouth hovered over hers, his breath hot on her face as she keened.

He did something with his fingers that had her toes curling in his sheets and her back arching almost painfully.

“That’s it,” he crooned, his thumb just barely making contact with her clit. The contrast between the light touch and the rough motions of his fingers inside of her drove Beth wild.

When it came, it was a wave crashing over her body from the points where he was touching her, rippling out and echoing with each stroke of his fingertips.

She could hear someone crying out and she knew that it was her but she couldn’t make herself stop.

“Damn,” Rio said once she’d gone boneless only to shudder when he withdrew his fingers. “If I’d known that you’d light up like that, we wouldn’t have made it back here.”

She made a noise and he chuckled. “Feel good?”

Beth nodded, slitting her eyes open to find Rio looking at her, just the slightest bit smug. Seeing that she was watching, he lifted his hand to his mouth and sucked on the fingers that he’d just had inside of her. He pulled them out with a pop.

“That’s good,” he said, standing up beside the bed at the same time that he leaned down to kiss her softly. “I wanna make you feel even better.”

Beth swallowed. He undid his belt and his pants, pushing them down to the floor and stepping out of them. She let her legs fall open in what she hoped was enough of an invitation that she wouldn’t have to say anything out loud.

He smiled and pulled off his underwear, revealing what Beth could only describe as an intimidating cock. She blinked at it, inhaling sharply. His laughter was soft as he took himself in hand and stroked from root to tip.

“Don’t worry,” Rio said, “you’ll be ready for me.”

Beth raised an eyebrow, watching in fascination as the head disappeared under his foreskin. Her legs opened a fraction wider without her even thinking about it.

“Your ex was cut?” He guessed. 

Beth nodded. 

“Want to touch?” He brushed the underside of her chin with his other hand.

Biting her lip, she looked up at him, then pushed herself up until she was sitting on the edge of the bed and reached out. Rio moved his hand away and let Beth wrap hers around him.

He was heavy in her hand, hot. Tightening her grip, she stroked upwards, biting her lip at the shift of his skin. Reaching the tip, she traced her finger just beneath the foreskin, ‘round and ‘round the head as Rio groaned.

Beth wanted to run her tongue there and her mouth began to water just at the thought.

She started to lower her head, but the hand still on her chin stopped her.

“As tempting as that is,” Rio said, “that’s not what I want.”

Beth glanced up at him.

“I wanna know what it feels like when you go off like that when I’m inside of you,” he told her with a grin. “How’s that sound?”

She nodded, unable to find words.

“Just a sec,” he told her, then stepped away from the bed to his night stand.

Beth used the time to move to the head of the bed. The sight of Rio’s cock still in the forefront of her mind, she turned over so that she was on her hands and knees, deciding it was probably going to be easier to take him this way.

He joined her, dropping the condom next to her, and widened her thighs a little further with his knees.

He pressed two fingers into her as he kissed the centre of her back, scissoring them as he rocked them in and out.

Beth groaned. His fingers were so much _bigger_ than hers, filled her so much better. He started to press a third in along with the others, making Beth jerk away slightly.

He shushed her, pulling his fingers back until just the tips of them were holding her open.

Rio was slow, methodical, as he worked three fingers in. Beth panted as she stretched around his knuckles.

“Oh fuck,” Beth said.

“There we go,” he rasped as he finally sank them all the way to the base. He curled and twisted them inside of her, making Beth’s hips move without her even realizing it. He did that for a moment more, working them in and out until he slipped them free.

He was gone for a moment, though she could feel him, just inches away from her. She heard the click of a cap.

He parted her folds with one hand, using the other to set the blunt head of his cock against her. At first, it slipped away, unable to catch. Rio adjusted his position and tried again. This time, the head squeezed in.

Beth swallowed, curling her fingers in the sheets. He waited for a beat, probably to see if she would say anything, but she didn’t. She wasn’t even sure if she could talk.

He pushed into her, his cock splitting her open as she gasped and moaned into his pillow. Fuck, it smelled like him - not some kind of cologne, but _him_.

“That’s it, Elizabeth,” Rio said, stroking her sides.

He seemed to go on forever, the moment becoming suspended in time until his pelvis came to rest against her ass.

“There we go,” he said, his hands cupping and squeezing her breasts. “Told you that you’d be ready for me.” 

He sounded smug, so Beth squeezed herself around him as much as she could. He groaned.

“That’s the spirit,” he told her.

Beth looked at him over her shoulder. Rio caught her looking and without warning he pulled out and thrust back in. She had to drop her head back down.

His blunt fingernails scraped over her nipples, not keeping in time with his thrusts, sending little bursts of heat down into her belly where he was quickly stoking a fire.

Beth moaned into the pillow as his cock hit a particularly nice spot again and again.

Rio pulled out and she moaned again, this time in disappointment. But his hands were on her hips and he was turning her over before she could feel too bereft.

“I want to see you,” Rio said once Beth was on her back, pushing back in as soon as he could. Beth groaned at the change in angle and depth. “Hold your legs open for me, Elizabeth.”

She hooked her hands behind her knees to hold them in place.

His grin was wild, pupils blown wide. She imagined that she didn’t look much different.

“There we are,” he said, planting both of his hands on the bed above her shoulders and pounding into her. Beth tightened around him, suddenly desperate to see what he looked like when he came.

“Touch me,” she demanded.

Rio didn’t tease, just shifted his weight to one hand, licked his fingertips, and gave her exactly what she needed to come - moaning and writhing as she rode out the pleasure. She couldn’t even remember how long it had been since someone had brought her to orgasm and when she did it herself, she always lost control at this moment, unable to maintain any kind of rhythm or even pressure.

Rio had no such problems. He kept rubbing her clit as he thrust in and out of her, drawing out her peak until she actually had to let go of her knee to shove his hand away.

He laughed, a breathless sound that made Beth clench around him, cutting him off. 

“Oh fuck,” he groaned, his hand dropping back to the bed as he chased his own orgasm. Beth lifted her hips slightly to take him a little easier and reached up to touch his face. His eyes had gone a little hazy, but they sharpened on her when her hand settled against his cheek.

Beth met him for one last thrust - his mouth fell open and his shoulders seemed to tremble. She could feel him inside of her and she stroked his cheek, his neck, his shoulders as he filled the condom. He made circling motions with his hips and his groans were quiet.

He dropped his head down until his forehead was resting on Beth’s shoulder, panting into her sweat soaked skin. His breathing was uneven, back rising and falling under her hand.

“Fuck,” he drew out the vowel as he cursed. His hips kept making little grinding thrusts.

Beth’s own breathing had evened out again, though she gasped when he withdrew, leaving her feeling empty. He nuzzled her neck at the noise and kissed the hinge of jaw before getting out of his bed to deal with the condom.

As she was starting to wonder if this was when she was supposed to put her clothes back on and slip out, Rio came back from the other side of the loft and climbed back into bed. He yanked the blanket out from beneath their bodies and pulled it to their waists before cozying up to Beth.

“Stay,” he murmured, running his lips from her neck to her shoulder.

Looking over her shoulder, Beth found him looking at her with a different kind of interest than he had before. Not sexual desire, but something else, something softer.

“Okay.”

It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep in his arms.

——————

Beth woke up to the smell of pancakes and coffee. She stretched her legs, pointing her toes, then released. It was nice to have someone else cooking her breakfast for once, she’d have to thank - she sat up, breathing fast as she slowly remembered where she was and registered the dull ache between her thighs.

“Morning,” a shirtless Rio called out from the kitchen on the other side of the loft. Beth grabbed the blanket and pulled it up over her chest. “You sleep okay?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Morning. Uh, yeah.”

He laughed, turning away from her to flip a pancake. “You don’t sound too sure about that.”

Beth looked around.

“Your clothes are on the chair,” he pointed. “And one of my shirts, in case you’re not up to putting on a dress at 8am on a Saturday.”

Yeah, she was definitely not ready to put that dress back on. She wouldn’t turn down her panties though, so she slid those on before pulling on his shirt. It was absurdly soft, but did little to keep her breasts in place.

She swallowed. God her breath must be stale.

“Extra toothbrush on the bathroom sink,” Rio said. “I left the toothpaste out too.”

Beth looked at his back.”Are you a mind reader?”

He chuckled and turned his head over his shoulder to look at her. “Nah. I just know it’s one of the first things that I do in the morning.”

She fled to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Beth stared at herself in the mirror, mouth open. She had patches of red - beard burn - on her chest and neck. Her hair was an absolute mess. She tried to finger-comb it into some semblance of…something, but it didn’t really do much. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, glad that she hadn’t been wearing much make-up the night before.

If she had had to deal with raccoon eyes on top of the rest of it, she probably would have died of humiliation before she could even have breakfast.

Feeling a little more alive and a whole lot more human, she joined Rio at the counter, where he’d finished cooking the pancakes. He’d set out jam, butter, and syrup. Judging by the amount of syrup he’d already poured on one stack, the other two options were for her. There were two steaming mugs as well.

“Wasn’t sure if you wanted coffee,” he said. “And what you take in it.”

“Milk and sugar,” Beth told him, climbing onto one of the barstools.

He’d already put out the sugar, so Rio went to his fridge and brought her the milk. Beth made her coffee the way she liked, glancing at his to see that it was black.

“Tough guy, huh?” Beth said, taking a bite of pancake. At his look of confusion, she pointed to his mug. “Black coffee.”

He smiled. “Yeah, there’s like three tablespoons of sugar in it,” he admitted. “Not one for coffee usually.”

“No?”

“I like tea,” he shrugged. When Beth made a face, he laughed. “What’s that look for?”

“Not one for tea,” Beth replied, mimicking his earlier words.

“Fair enough,” Rio said.

They were quiet for a moment as they ate. His pancakes were pretty good. Clearly it was something he made a fair bit of. He’d mentioned a son, a six year old named Marcus, who probably lived in that room she’d been pretending that she didn’t see. He must have made him pancakes sometimes.

“Do I still get your number?” Rio broke the quiet.

Beth flushed. “You still want it? I didn’t think that’s how this kind of thing goes.”

“Goes however you and me want it,” he said. “No roadmap. Besides, you’ve got that ex of yours. He causes trouble, you call me up, I’ll come over and make sure he knows how much more you like my dick than his.”

Beth studied him. He looked softer in the daylight, dressed down in sweats and barefoot, despite the slight harshness to his words. Dear lord, was he attractive. Not to mention, he seemed to be genuinely into her. “I’m not sure that I’m okay with that last part, but I’ll give you my number.”

His lips turned up and he slid his phone over to her. “In that case.”

Beth entered her phone number in the contact that he’d already started. As Elizabeth.

“People usually call me Beth,” she told him as she texted herself from his phone before handing it back.

He saw that she’d sent a message and shrugged. “I’m not people.”

Beth sipped her coffee. “Well aren’t you confident?”

Rio came around the counter. “Oh sweetheart, you have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to neveroffanon and medievalraven for their beta skills. Thank you to everyone reading and thank you so much for all of your comments! I read every single one of them and I’ll definitely reply if you have any questions or concerns. As usual, if there’s content that you would like me to tag for, please let me know! 
> 
> Chapter title from 80s Joint by Kelis. The Step Up soundtrack is still a banger, don’t @ me.
> 
> The thing about taking a photo of someone’s license is from a [post](http://www.lexi-alexander.com/blog/lexi-alexander/blog-3) that Lexi Alexander made about tips for going on dates with people you meet online. Safety first!


	3. It's Not A Competition, But I'm Winnin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rio pays a visit to Boland Motors, earning himself a visit from Elizabeth.

Standing in the showroom of Boland Motors, hands tucked in the pockets of his jacket, Rio eyed up Elizabeth’s ex-husband as the man left his office. Even if Rio hadn’t known what he’d done to Elizabeth, it still would have been obvious that the guy was an asshole. 

Dean walked towards him, talking with one of the other suits - the only people around here that he appeared to treat with actual respect. In the short time that Rio’d been wandering around, he had seen Dean place a hand on the woman’s back, then brush against the arm of another. The actions had that practiced air to them - it wasn’t something he’d started doing after the divorce. He’d always been handsy.

Her ex’s head came up, searching for the person who had asked to see him about the Corvette.

He’d recognized the man almost instantly at the bar, even without the girl from the commercial standing a little bit behind him. Those fucking commercials. The pig suit had nearly given Marcus nightmares and Rio couldn’t blame him.

Looking at Dean, Rio wondered - not for the first time - what had originally attracted Elizabeth to him in the first place. Maybe he’d been more interesting once.

Elizabeth hadn’t let him drive her home in the morning after she’d slept over, but he’d called her a cab and handed the driver cash before she could protest. She had looked up at him, those round blue eyes practically glowing with an expression of surprise and gratitude. He’d wanted to get her back upstairs and into bed, but he’d said bye with a kiss.

He hadn’t been sure if she’d message him or not, but later that afternoon, he’d received a message that said _Thanks for the beard burn. My sister is having a field day._

_You’re welcome. I’m happy to help any time._

She’d sent a few angry faces followed by crying face emojis and they’d messaged back and forth a few times after that.

Rio could see recognition register on Dean’s face, turning to shock, then anger, then smoothing over. Kind of. There was still something in his eyes and the slope of his shoulders that Rio didn’t like.

“What was your name again,” Dean said when he’d reached the car, “Rio?”

“Yeah, do I know you?” Rio gave him a once over. “Never been here before.”

“You’re dating my ex-wife.”

Rio widened his eyes and nodded. “Right.”

“Dean.”

“Sure,” Rio shrugged, making sure to convey how little that information meant to him.

He watched Dean swallow. He was clearly battling with his pride in an attempt to make a sale. 

Like Rio would ever be caught dead in a car as flashy as this one. Fuck, it was bad.

“You’re interested in the ‘Vette?” Dean began his pitch. Rio tuned him out, scanning the interior of the dealership. He could see the barebones of potential under all the flash that this man kept piling on - a decent foundation to build on with the right person in charge.

“Not much of a backseat,” Rio cut Dean off, looking pointedly at the car.

Dean stiffened. “Oh. Do you have kids?”

“A son,” Rio told him, “but that’s not what I’m talking about.” He circled around to the back of the car. “If I take my girl out, there’s a fifty-fifty chance of us even getting home before we need to fuck. Her mama van is good for that, this?” Rio shook his head.

“Excuse me?” Dean gaped at Rio.

Rio pointed at the car. “No backseat,” he said.

“You’ve had sex with my wife in the van?”

“Ex-wife,” Rio corrected. “It was one time,” he shrugged. “Maybe more.”

He grinned to himself, sure that Dean could read his satisfaction.

“She’s wild,” Rio went on, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret. “All I gotta do is touch her hip and then she’s having me bend her over whatever’s closest.”

Dean’s face was turning the same shade of red that it had been that night in the bar, but he seemed lost for words. He had probably never been faced with someone like Rio before, didn’t know how to deal with him.

“I can’t understand how someone could walk away from a woman like that, but I guess I’m lucky that you did,” Rio said with a laugh. “Or rather, I’m lucky that you wanted to test a new model and Elizabeth had the good sense to push you out the door. God, what a woman.”

Rio wasn’t sure that Dean was even breathing anymore.

“Yeah, Dan,” Rio clapped a hand down on Dean’s shoulder and squeezed, “I don’t think this is the right car for me. It’s all flash, draws the eye, but doesn’t do it for me. Between the lack of backseat and the low roof,” Rio trailed off and shrugged. Dean winced. “Not very accommodating to my needs.”

Rio held on a second longer, then let him go.

“Have a good day now,” Rio told him with a wide grin and left without looking back.

———————

“Why did I get a phone call from my ex-husband about you threatening him?” Elizabeth asked the moment that he opened his door to find her tapping her foot, arms crossed over her chest.

Rio leaned against his doorframe. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Elizabeth pushed past him into the loft, making him grin as he shut the door and turned to rest his back against it.

“You didn’t go to Boland Motors today?” She demanded.

“Never said that,” Rio replied. “Didn’t threaten anyone though.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

Rio’s eyebrow went up and he straightened up to walk towards Elizabeth. Reaching her, he tucked a loose lock of hair back behind her ear. “You believe him?”

She faltered, then lost some of the tension in her shoulders. “What happened?” She asked, tone softening.

“I went to the dealership,” Rio said.

“And?” She pressed.

Rio worked his jaw as he thought how best to explain himself. “He showed me that ugly fucking Corvette.”

Elizabeth winced.

“And I pointed out that the lack of back seat would be a detriment to my sex life.”

She stared at him.

“Our sex life,” he said.

“You didn’t,” she gasped.

“I did.” Rio shrugged. It wasn’t like it was a big deal.

She had her hands on her hips and Rio’s cock twitched at the picture she made.

“He could come after me for custody,” she said.

Rio shook his head. “Because I looked at a car? Nah. And that’s all it was.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.

“Don’t worry about that, Elizabeth,” he told her, stepping towards her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “You think I’d let him hurt you?”

“He isn’t hurting me,” she said, sounding a little unsure.

Rio sighed. “You telling me that him threatening to take your kids away wouldn’t hurt? Nah, not gonna buy that. You don’t gotta worry about him no more. He’s my problem.”

She shivered at that, lifting her hands to settle on his chest.

“What, this is some kind of caveman thing? Now that you’ve had your dick inside of me, you own me?”

He snorted. “Nah, more like now that I know how much of a jackass he was and still is, I didn’t want him to have a good night’s sleep for a month, if ever.”

Her brow wrinkled.

“Oh come on, Elizabeth.” Rio smiled down at her. “Now every time he looks at that dumbass car, he’s gonna think about me fuckin’ you in it. When he thinks about you, I’m gonna be there, giving it to you so good. Isn’t that what you wanted? Him to stop messing with you?”

She looked away. “I - yes, but -“

“I told him that we fucked in that van of yours,” he told her. Those pretty blue eyes of hers widened. “Said you were wild and that all I had to do was give you just the slightest touch, like this,” he settled his right hand on her hip, “and you get so hot that we can’t even make it back home to fuck in a bed.”

Her breathing picked up.

“Now every time that he sees that van, he’s gonna wonder how we do it.”

Rio slid his other hand up her top. “Do you ride me? Do I fuck you from behind?” His mouth came down to hover at her ear as her head fell back. “Maybe I eat you out while you suck me off. Get rid of the edge so we can spend all night in bed.”

He was absolutely certain that if he put his hands between her legs now, she’d be soaked.

Instead, he asked her. “You wet for me?”

She shivered as he took the lobe of her ear into his mouth and closed his teeth around it, not applying pressure but just reminding her of the possibility of it.

“You are, aren’t you, Elizabeth.” He chuckled. “Why don’t you show me? Take off your pants.”

Elizabeth stepped back and for a second he thought she wouldn’t take them off, but she did, shimmying them down until they were just a pile on his floor.

“Shirt too.”

It joined her pants, leaving her in a pair of matching peach lace lingerie. He drew his lower lip into his mouth, studying those soft curves he’d been thinking about ever since she’d walked up to him and asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend. Rio had decided then and there that he wasn’t going to be pretending long.

Rio crossed the distance in an instant, hands going right to her ass as he kissed her.

“I thought I was showing you,” she said when he pulled away briefly. The sentiment was coy, but the blush on her cheeks told Rio that she was shy.

“You are,” he assured her, guiding her towards the bed. “Lie back.”

She did, keeping her legs together. 

Shaking his head, Rio stepped closer and, with a hand on either knee, spread her open.

“He call you up to file a complaint about me?” Rio asked, taking a seat between her legs.

Elizabeth shook her head. “He came by the house.”

“How pissed was he?” Rio asked, not hiding his amusement as he started to circle his thumb against her calf.

He watched her swallow a few times. “A lot.”

“What did you tell him, Elizabeth?”

“I told him that you were none of his business, that who I date is none of his business,” she replied. “I’m not his wife anymore.”

Rio nodded. “Put your hand in your panties.”

Her eyes widened, but her hand didn’t move. Rio lifted her hand from the bed and set it on her belly. Her fingers twitched.

“You tell him anything else?” He asked when she slipped her fingers beneath the lace.

She shook her head.

“Know what I’m going to do this time?”

“No,” Elizabeth answered, her hand moving in little circling motions.

Rio laughed. “I’m gonna put a big ol’ hickey right where he can see it. I’m trying to decide where,” he studied her, noted the hitch in her breath and the movement of her hand that suggested she’d just slid a finger inside of herself.

“Putting it on your chest just seems tacky,” Rio said, “although I wouldn’t say no. Arm’s no fun. Neck will have you facing questions you probably don’t want, but there’s a spot at the top of your spine, right where your hair hits. I bet you’ve got shirts that show that little bit of skin off.”

She bit her lip, but nodded.

“Then that’s what we’re going to do,” Rio declared. “How soaked are you right now?”

She shivered. “Why don’t you come and find out?”

Rio smiled, but didn’t make a move to replace her hand with his own. “Bet those fingers of yours feel small right now, don’t they. You just got one in there?” She nodded. “How about we make that two?”

Her hips parted a little more and Rio watched her hand move, stretching her panties. Once they were in, he reached out and settled his hand over top of hers. He applied pressure against the backs of her fingers, then relaxed. He did that a few more times as Elizabeth bit her lip.

He pulled away, pulling her panties down as he did. “Keep your hand where it is,” he said when it looked like she was about to pull her fingers out.

Rio tossed her panties off to the side and when he looked down, she was teasing herself with a third finger.

“You can put that one in too,” Rio told her, watching as she worked the third finger in too, pumping them in and out a few times.

“How’s that feel?” He asked.

Elizabeth swallowed, the tendons on the back of her hand shifting as she moved her fingers around inside of herself. “Good.”

“Why do I sense a but in there?” Rio rubbed her thigh.

“I want - “ she glanced down to where his cock was valiantly trying to rip through denim.

Rio got off the bed and stripped to his boxer briefs. She bit her lip, staring at the wet patch where he’d been leaking steadily for the past couple of minutes.

“You have to say it, Elizabeth,” he said, rubbing himself through the thin cotton.

Her cheeks were a delightful pink. Not, he realized, unlike her flushed cunt as it squeezed around her fingers.

“I want your -“ The blush deepened and she lowered her voice. “I want your cock.”

There was still a slight hesitation between ‘your’ and ‘cock’, but that was good enough for him. He shoved his underwear down and stepped out of it to grab a condom.

“Can I be on top?” She asked, sounding so polite it was nearly absurd.

Rio nodded, getting onto the bed and leaning back against the pillows he had stacked at the head. He dropped the bottle of lube by his hip before opening the condom and rolling it down his length.

She started to move towards him and he saw a look of anticipation on her face as she watched him spread lube on his cock.

The second that he was done, she nudged his hand away and straddled him. She gripped his cock in her small hand to hold him in place as she withdrew her fingers until she was just using the tips to hold herself open as she lined them up together.

“That feel as good as you remembered? I bet it does,” Rio drawled as Elizabeth lowered herself onto his cock, moaning as she did.

She whimpered as she circled her hips. “What makes you think I’ve been thinking of you?”

“You trying to tell me that you haven’t?” He asked, using his grip on her hips to rock her back and forth.

Elizabeth didn’t answer. She lifted up slightly, then sank back down with a little wiggle of her hips and a hiss.

She planted her hands on his chest as she took him all the way, relaxing her tense thighs and letting him take her weight.

Rio palmed her ass, stroking up and down as she adjusted to him. He watched it play out on her face - the slight discomfort that faded with each little lift of her hips, rapidly overshadowed by desire.

Her eyes fluttered shut when Rio brought one of his hands to where they were joined, teasing his thumb against her clit but never actually coming into contact with it.

Elizabeth moaned, her fingers turning into little claws that pricked Rio’s chest. Her mouth settled into what could only be called a pout and all Rio wanted to do was to kiss it from her face. So he did.

Her lips were soft, just as they had been the other night, just as Rio had been thinking about ever since.

He’d been hoping for this, for her to come to him after her ex went crying to her. He’d wanted her here again, in his bed, in his arms, on his cock. And if her breathy little sounds were anything to go by, she was enjoying herself too.

Rio bucked his hips up to slam into her with a vengeance. Elizabeth cried out, her arms faltering a little. Tired of letting her control the pace, he rolled them so that she was on her back below him. He planted his knees into the mattress and set a furious pace.

She moaned with almost every slap of his hips against hers, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Looking down, Rio watched her tits bounce with every thrust. They were gorgeous - milky pale, probably never seen the sunlight, with rosy nipples that just begged to be teased. He bent his head to give them what they needed, sucking first one, then the other.

Elizabeth was almost there now, despite the lack of his touch on her clit and Rio wondered if maybe he’d be able to get her there with just penetration one day. It was something to explore, but he didn’t have the patience for it. Instead, he set his thumb against her clit and rubbed until she wailed, back arching and body tensing.

Rio kept fucking her, drawing out her orgasm and hunting for his own.

He watched her breasts, then down further, where she was split open around his cock. He adjusted his position so that he could watch her little pink cunt swallow him. It took a handful more thrusts before he pushed in as hard as he could and grunted as he began to come.

He dropped his head to her breast and sank his teeth into the pale curve, where it would be easy to see if she wore something low-cut. He wanted to mark her everywhere, but he’d promised her a specific one.

Pulling out, Rio turned Elizabeth so that she was laying on her belly. Right away, he saw the spot he was going to bite, a little beauty mark forming a bullseye. Smiling, he licked the spot, then opened his mouth and clamped down.

She gasped, jerking a little.

“There we go,” he said when he pulled away, feeling a vicious sense of delight at seeing so blatant a mark on her. When she rolled over, he saw the one blooming on the top of her breast and grinned down at her.

She seemed a little out of it for a few moments. Rio took the time to arrange himself against the cushions by the headboard, moving Elizabeth with him.

Eventually, she regained use of her limbs and pulled away, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

Rio watched her through hooded eyes as she staggered slightly when she stood. He heard the quiet hiss when she bent to pick up her panties and smiled in satisfaction.

“We aren’t even dating,” Elizabeth said to him as she pulled her panties back on. Rio didn’t move from his comfortable position resting back against his pillows.

Rio chuckled. “If that’s what you want to call it, darling.”

“We’ve slept together twice,” she reminded him, like he might have forgotten. Like that second time hadn’t just happened moments ago.

“Oh, I remember.” He watched her breasts bounce as she put her bra on, sad to see them hidden under lace again. Although that made a pretty picture of a different kind.

“You could have called me,” Rio remarked. “But you came over. Wearing matching panties.”

Her cheeks reddened and Rio knew he was right.

“I’m happy to provide you with stress release, Elizabeth. But I’m not someone who likes to play games.” Rio kept watching her carefully.

“Then what are we doing?” She asked, finding her pants. “Because it sounds like you think it’s a game.”

Rio shook his head. “You seeing someone else?”

She paused, zipper halfway up. “No.”

“Me neither.”

She turned around to face him, still topless. “What’s that mean?” She asked.

“It means that if you’d been anyone else showing up at my door, all angry and full of accusations, I would have kicked your ass to the curb. You think I tolerate that behaviour from just anyone?” Rio finally pushed himself off of the bed and walked to her, framing her face in his palms.

“I don’t,” he clarified.

Elizabeth swallowed.

“I don’t tolerate disrespect from people, Elizabeth,” he said. “My line of work doesn’t allow that.”

He saw the question in her eyes about what his line of work was, but she didn’t ask it. He was a little surprised. Her self preservation instincts were terrible.

Although if it got him her, he couldn’t really complain.

“I don’t like games,” he said. “You like playing ‘em?”

She shook her head, that glorious red hair tumbling around her shoulders.

“Then how about this,” Rio suggested, “we’re exclusive. You don’t see other people, I don’t see other people. If one of us wants that to change, we tell the other. I take you out on some dates, we see where that goes.”

“That’s it?”

Rio set his lips against hers for a moment. “That’s it, Elizabeth.”

She shivered, but she nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to neveroffanon and medievalraven for their beta skills and to every single one of you reading and leaving kudos and commenting!
> 
> Chapter title from The Lonely Island’s So Humble (which is from Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping, a cinematic masterpiece). I feel like it really sums up Rio's feelings about Dean.
> 
> I’ve added the tag for unhealthy relationships because while I’m writing this like it’s hot, this kind of behaviour is not great. You’re (probably) adults and know how to make up your own minds, but I just want to make it clear that I do not actually condone things like showing up at the workplace of a partner’s ex. In this story, Rio’s definitely going to be engaging in some questionable stuff, but my goal isn’t a deep dive into how we romanticize certain behaviour (particularly relating to relationships) in media, it is entertainment and porn being told from Beth and Rio’s perspectives. So please keep that in mind! If you find that there's content you'd like me to tag or warn about, please let me know.


	4. She says she don’t believe in God, but her shoes Christian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean sees the hickey. Beth and Rio go out on a date. Beth tells Annie and Ruby she's seeing someone.

“What’s that?”

Dean's voice surprised Beth into dropping the plate she’d been rinsing into the - thankfully water filled - sink and turned. “What the hell, Dean? I thought you were going to start knocking!”

His arms were crossed over his chest. “It’s my house.”

Beth’s mood immediately soured. “Don’t start that again, please. The kids are outside.”

“What’s on the back of your neck, Bethie?”

Without thinking about it, her hand went to the spot that he was talking about, feeling a little bolt of pain as she brushed the edges of the bruise. Rio hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that he was going to give her a hickey. It was a damn impressive one and bigger than Beth had been expecting. She’d been wearing high necked shirts and ignoring the pointed looks Annie kept giving her.

“It’s a hickey, isn’t it?” Dean huffed. “From that guy with the neck tats. Jesus, Beth. That guy’s probably a hardened criminal and you had sex with him?”

“I’m dating him,” Beth replied, going back to the dishes.

“He came into the dealership and threatened me!”

“Did he?” Beth asked without looking at Dean. “Because I heard a different story and between the two of you, there’s only one man that spent years lying to me and that was you, Dean.”

She listened to him splutter about for a moment.

“I’m not really interested in what you have to say right now, Dean.” Beth went back to the dishes. “Certainly not about this topic. Actually, I’ll probably never be interested.”

“Bethie, this guy is dangerous.”

“Oh?” She turned and leaned against the counter. “And what are you basing this on? Anything?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, like that was supposed to be enough.

“You aren’t!” Beth snapped. “You’re acting like you have some kind of ownership over me, like you ever did.”

“You’re my wife, Bethie,” he said, stubborn to the core.

“I _was_ your wife, Deansy,” Beth retorted. “And getting a divorce was one of the best choices I’ve made in a very long time.”

She pursed her lips, refusing to do this with him. Again. Setting her hand on her stomach, she took a deep breath in and then let it out. “I’ll get the kids.”

She didn’t give him a chance to protest, just went to the door and called out for them to come in.

The rest of the handoff was easy enough, but the second that the house was empty, Beth just felt like she was all wound up with no way to unwind.

_What are you both up to tonight?_ she messaged Annie and Ruby before going back to the dishes.

Ruby replied quickly with a photo of a stack of board games, a smiling Harry in the background. _Game night! Want to join?_

As nice as the offer was, she didn’t feel up to putting on a pleasant face for Sara and Harry, so she sent back a polite refusal. _Not sure I’m up to that tonight._

_If you change your mind, you know where I live_ , Ruby messaged back with a string of heart emojis.

Annie didn’t respond, leading Beth to guess that she was working.

Her finger hovered over Rio’s message thread. Then she tapped it.

_You free?_

His answer came a couple minutes later. _I could be._

Beth replied with her address.

———————————

The knock came twenty minutes later, on the front door. Beth cursed herself for not just telling him to come to the side and went to let him in.

Rio’s sunglasses prevented her from seeing his full expression, but she could make out his grin. He stepped towards her, taking the sunglasses off and shoving them into his pocket even as he set a hand on her hip and leaned down to kiss her.

“Come on in.” Beth stepped back and led the way to the kitchen.

Rio sauntered into the house, leaned against the counter like he’d been there a thousand times as Beth fluttered around, arranging sweets on a plate.

He chuckled.

“What?” Beth turned around to face him.

“You invite me over for snack time?” He asked. “Because I got the impression that this was a booty call.”

“I don’t make booty calls,” Beth stiffened at the implication.

Smiling, Rio shook his head. “Then what is this, Elizabeth?”

“Never mind,” she said, moving towards the fridge.

Rio moved faster, stepping in her way and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Why’d you text?”

“You didn’t need to come, I -“

He leaned down, setting his forehead against hers. “Elizabeth,” he interrupted her.

“I was angry and frustrated when I sent you that text,” she admitted.

“Okay,” he said. “You want me to go?”

Beth shook her head.

“So you want me to stick around.” He lifted a hand to curl under her chin to nudge her face upwards. “Gonna give me a kiss, sweetheart?”

They were so close that Beth could only make out small details of Rio’s face, rather than taking in the whole.

She nodded.

He didn’t bridge the distance. “I’m waiting,” he said after a moment.

Rising onto her toes, Beth kissed him. His hands immediately went to her ass, grabbing and holding her against him. Beth’s moan let him deepen the kiss.

“Hi,” he said when she sank back down onto her heels.

Beth flushed. She hadn’t even greeted him. “Hi.”

He chuckled, pushing her hair back off her face and tucking it behind her ear. “I’m gonna guess that your kids ain’t around.”

“Dean picked them up about an hour ago,” she said.

A look of understanding crossed his eyes. “That why you all bent outta shape?”

Beth sighed, then nodded.

“You okay now?” He asked, moving his hands to stroke up and down her sides.

She shrugged. “Getting there.”

“Need to accidentally forward some dirty pictures to him or something?” He offered with a wide grin.

Beth covered her face with a hand. “I just want to forget about him really. I’m tired of giving him my time.”

Rio hummed. “That’s probably a good way to look at it.” They were quiet for a moment, then he stopped moving his hands. “You make those brownies?”

“Yeah. They’re salted caramel and peanut. Not for the school, of course. Nut allergies and all that. These are my special stash. You can have -“ she didn’t even finish her sentence before he’d leaned over and snatched one up.

“Fuck,” he said after taking a bite. “This is the best brownie I’ve ever had.”

Beth blushed at the compliment, ducking her head to acknowledge that she’d heard it.

He finished the square and eyed the rest of them. “You got extras?” He asked.

“Why, so you can eat them all?”

Rio’s lips curved into a soft smile. “Marcus loves brownies. I’m picking him up tomorrow and then he’s at mine for a few days.”

“Oh,” Beth said. “Of course. I’ll pack some for you.” She moved to grab one of the takeaway containers she saved for occasions like this, but his hand darted out to take hers.

“You don’t need to do that now, Elizabeth,” he said, amused, then glanced up, eyes catching on something. “That them?”

Beth turned her head to look over her shoulder and realized that he was talking about the picture she’d hung just a few days ago - a new family portrait with just her and the kids. Annie had taken it of the five of them when they were all together for Sadie’s birthday.

“Yeah,” she answered, then stepped towards it. “That’s Kenny,” she pointed, “Danny, Emma, and Jane.”

Rio stood behind her. “Who’s the stacked redhead?”

She elbowed him in the stomach, driving a chuckle from his belly. When she looked at him, he was pulling his phone from his back pocket.

“Here, I’ve got one of Marcus.” It took him a second to find it, but then he was turning the screen towards her to show her a photo of him and a little boy sitting on some stairs. Rio was sitting a couple of steps above, Marcus between his legs, both grinning at the camera.

“He looks like you,” she said.

Rio nodded. “Drives Nat, his mom,” he added, “crazy. She still spends time in the ‘hood we grew up in and everyone’s always telling the two of them how much he looks like me.”

“Strong genes, huh?” Beth teased.

Rio hummed. “Guess so.” He kissed the side of her neck. “Sure this wasn’t a booty call?” He asked, palming her belly.

Beth pulled her lower lip between her teeth and gnawed on it. She hadn’t meant it to be one. She’d just wanted some company, someone else to be around. That didn’t mean that they _couldn’t_ have sex though.

She turned around, dislodging his mouth from her neck.

“I guess I could be convinced,” she said.

He chuckled. “Yeah?” Leaning down, he pressed their lips together.

Beth took his hand and tugged him towards her bedroom. He followed without comment, didn’t say anything when she closed the bedroom door behind her either.

She watched him take in the room, gaze pausing on the bed. “You leave any pillows in the store for the next person?” He asked.

“What?”

He pointed to the bed. “You sleep with all those?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “If the house is too quiet.”

“Still,” he said, “that’s a lot of pillows.”

Beth turned her face away. “I’ll have you know that I left plenty in the store.”

“Sure you did,” he laughed, putting his hand on her hip. “How many, three?”

Beth adopted a look of affront. “I can still kick you out.”

“You could,” he agreed, “but you don’t want to.”

This time when he kissed her, he immediately deepened the kiss and turned it filthy. Before he could get her on the bed, Beth pushed him away.

He opened his mouth, probably to ask what was wrong, but she went right for his belt.

Something had been bouncing in her head ever since that first night when Rio’d stopped her from taking him in her mouth.

She started to drop to her knees, but he grabbed her elbow.

“Really?” Beth snapped.

“Take this off,” he demanded, tugging the sleeve of her shirt. “Then I’ll let you do whatever you want.”

She could do that. “You too.”

His hands went right to his buttons. Beth pulled her shirt over her head and hesitated before going to the clasp of her bra.

“That too,” he said.

She undid her bra, tossing it aside and sank onto her knees. This time, Rio didn’t stop her, just let her tug his pants down and stepped out of them once they were on the floor. Setting her hand on his hip, she took in his casual nudity. Here he was, in the middle of her bedroom, late afternoon light pouring in, without a stitch on as his cock started to harden.

His right hand brushed her hair back and stroked her cheek. “You don’t gotta do anything you don’t want to, Elizabeth.”

“Do you not want me to?” Beth asked, tilting her head back.

He snorted. “Sweetheart, looking at you right now, like this? Believe me, I want you to.”

Beth nodded, letting her hands slip down so that they were on his thighs, then stroked upwards until she came in contact with his cock.

He brushed her hair back again, this time holding it back with his hand.

“Take your time.” There was a teasing note to his voice that she chose to ignore as she took him in hand.

Beth stroked Rio’s cock, pulling his foreskin over the head and pinching it lightly together. His hips jerked. She looked up at him to see if she’d hurt him, but he just nodded when their eyes met.

She sank her hand back down, tugging it back to expose the head. She bent down, lowered her mouth and - pulling the foreskin towards her - slid her tongue between it and the head. Rio swore, his hand tightening in her hair. She licked the slit, giving him the flat of her tongue.

“Yeah,” Rio hissed, “like that.”

She sucked on the tip, then pulled away to mouth and lick down his length, but he didn’t react as much until she returned to the head. With her hand, she worked the rest of him, zeroing her attention in on the sensitive spots she’d just discovered.

His hips were shifting restlessly, but he didn’t try to push further. Beth was pretty sure that there was no way in hell that she’d even be able to take much more of him, certainly not without gagging.

Sliding his foreskin back, she let him fall from her mouth. Still stroking him, she shifted forward to lick his balls, then wrapped her lips around one of them.

Rio groaned.

Beth pulled her mouth away. “You close?”

He nodded, the hand in her hair exerting the slightest pressure. She raised a brow and he stopped trying to tug her back to his cock.

“Gonna let me come in that mouth?” He asked, reaching out with his other hand to trace over her lips.

Beth made a face that Rio seemed to find amusing.

“Another time then,” he said, unbothered, then dropped his hand to her chest. “How about here?”

That Beth could live with. She nodded and kept moving her hand up and down, still more than a little fascinated by the pull and shift of his skin.

It was a handful of strokes before he tensed with a grunt.

His cum landed on her chest and when Beth looked up at him, still stroking him, she saw a look of pure satisfaction in his eyes as he watched her.

Stumbling back slightly, he sank onto the edge of the bed and held out his hands to her.

“C’mere.” He coaxed her up onto his lap, then reached for her breasts and began to rub his fingers in the mess.

“Rio!” Beth yelped, moving to grab his hands, but he kissed her and tweaked her nipples.

He bit her lip. “Relax,” he murmured, “I’ll help clean you up.”

She huffed, but let him spread his cum over her breasts.

When he was seemingly content with his mess, he stood and went to the ensuite, coming back with a damp cloth. He did as promised and cleaned her up before giving her a filthy kiss.

“Lie back,” he said.

Beth did just that and he settled between her legs. Like their other encounters, Rio didn’t give her a chance to be shy. His hands pressed her thighs apart - leaving her completely bare to his gaze.

She watched his face as he sucked his lower lip into his mouth, then moved his hands a little higher so that his thumbs were nearly at the crease of her thighs. He looked up at her from under his long lashes.

“Comfortable?” He asked, voice sounding a little rougher than before.

Beth nodded.

He started slow - just gentle kisses against her that got more lingering, wetter - but didn’t stay that way for long.

Rio was an infuriating force between her legs. His tongue and lips were unrelenting, but he kept pulling back to nip down the insides of her thighs whenever Beth felt that he was establishing a good rhythm.

When Beth met his eye, he grinned. “Getting impatient?” He asked.

She shook her head.

“No?” Rio pulled away. “Maybe we should take a break then.”

Beth reached out for him, but he snatched her hand before she could, twining their fingers together. He grinned, then pressed his mouth against her again.

This time he didn’t pull back when she started moaning and squirming against his face. Instead, he doubled his efforts.

Beth lifted her hips, gasping with every flick of his tongue. With a last suck, Beth’s thighs clamped around his head as she came.

He didn’t pry her legs apart, just kept rubbing her clit until Beth had to push his head away.

Her legs parted and Rio moved to lie next to her.

Rio tugged her across the bed so that she was lying half on top of him.

“I said I was gonna take you out on dates,” Rio drawled as he drew shapes on her back, “but I’ve been slacking.”

Beth giggled. “I think that this one’s on me,” she said.

“You did call me over,” he agreed, “then jumped me. So that’s a fair assessment.”

She poked him in the belly. “Hey!”

“What?” He grabbed her hand. “I’m agreeing with you.”

He cut off her retort with his mouth.

“Let me take you out,” Rio said, brushing her hair back over her shoulder.

Beth squirmed in his lap, but he tightened his grip on her waist with his other hand. “Now?”

“Wish I could, Elizabeth,” he drawled, dropping his hand to her bare ass, “but I gotta get back to work.”

“Oh god,” she groaned. “I interrupted your work. I can’t believe I-“

He covered her mouth. “If I didn’t have time, I wouldn’t have come,” he said firmly. “I had some time, but I need to get back. Should be done in a couple hours if you don’t mind a late dinner.”

“I’m free,” Beth said.

“Then I’ll pick you up, we’ll go to dinner,” Rio starting twirling a piece of hair around his finger, “maybe go get a drink. Date goes well, we’ll go back to mine.” He grinned. “You can pack up some of those brownies for me.”

“We going somewhere fancy or casual?” Beth turned around to ask, halfway to the bathroom.

“Casual,” he replied, picking up his phone from where it had fallen on the ground, then sliding his underwear and pants back on. “Pick you up close to 8.”

“Sounds good.”

——————

The first thing to pop into Beth’s mind when they walked into the restaurant was that casual wasn’t exactly what she would have called it. Though that may have been because it wasn’t a chain like most of the restaurants she went to these days. She was relieved that she’d gone nice-casual rather than comfortable-casual.

Rio was apparently a regular. A man in a suit came forward with the hostess, called him Mr. Marquez, shook his hand, and led them to a table even though Beth was reasonably certain that Rio hadn’t had time to make them a reservation and there were quite a few people waiting to be seated.

She lifted an eyebrow and looked at him. “Connections?”

He smiled, shrugging a shoulder. “Something like that.”

Beth wanted to ask what he meant, but their waiter arrived before she could and after that, she forgot, lost in Rio’s probing questions. He even gave the occasional answer to her questions.

Getting a drink meant returning to the bar that they’d met at. 

“Fond memories,” he teased as he led her inside and ordered her a bourbon along with his gin. They stood at the bar, Rio standing behind her, preventing any of the busy crowd from knocking into her. Normally Beth would have hated the atmosphere and the crowd, but with Rio? It was like it wasn’t even there.

As the night wore on, Beth began to notice something.

Rio barely seemed to even register other women. His eyes didn’t follow them around a room, fasten themselves to a particularly shapely ass or pair of breasts, even when the women attached to those particular parts tried to catch his gaze. When she was with him, his attention was on her. It was an extremely heady thing. His phone went off a couple of times, but when she told him she was fine with him answering, he shook his head.

“Not important. If it were, they’d be calling,” he said.

At one point, a young woman’s dress gaped just a little too wide as she leaned towards him and bumped against his arm. “Sorry,” she giggled, setting her hand on Rio’s arm.

“S’good,” Rio told her, but his attention came right back to Beth.

As they walked from his parking spot to his loft, a woman walking towards them clocked Rio and added an extra sway to her hips, Rio didn’t seem to care.

“Does that happen a lot?” Beth asked.

“What?” Rio unlocked the front door to the building.

Beth went in. “Women hitting on you.”

“Elizabeth, you forgetting how we met?” He teased.

She shrugged. “It’s like you don’t even see them though.”

He laughed.

“You get tired of easy.”

Beth’s head jerked back as he unlocked his loft. “I came back to your place the first time we met. I think I technically fall under easy.”

Rio’s eyebrows went up. “You, easy?” He snorted. “Nothing about you is easy, Elizabeth.”

She gasped, opening her mouth to tell him he could fuck off, but he kissed her, bearing her back down onto his bed.

After he’d wrung two orgasms out of her and finished himself, he stroked her back and came back to their conversation.

“I mean it as a compliment,” he said. “I mean that you know who you are and you don’t try to change that to make me happy or keep me interested.”

Beth lifted her head so she could meet his eyes. “Really?”

Rio nodded. “You make me work for it, but not with stupid mind games or expensive presents, shit like that. You texted me yesterday to ask about how my day went. And you’re worth the effort. More than worth it.”

“Yeah?”

He hummed. “Yeah.”

His phone buzzed and he groaned.

“Gotta take this,” he said, rolling out of bed and grabbing his underwear. He went out into the hall, leaving Beth alone for a moment to really take in the loft.

She still hadn’t really inspected Marcus’ space, feeling too much like an intruder. But the rest was fair game.

Despite his insistence that he wasn’t much of a cook, he had a beautiful kitchen - plenty of counter space and shiny appliances. Although maybe that was proof that he didn’t use it much.

There was art all over the place, but it was all abstract. Swashes of colour fading into one another, gradients, soft lines. Looking at it now, Beth realized that most of it was green.

Was that his favourite colour?

Before she could get further down that train of thought, the door opened and Rio came back in. He didn’t say anything until he reached the bed, then collapsed onto it, resting on his side.

“I need to go,” Rio sighed. “You’ve got some choices. Stay in bed and if I’m back by the time you need to get home, I’ll take you. If not, you can get an Uber. Or I can take you home now.”

Beth bit her lip. Part of her wanted to stay in the loft and snoop, but the idea of being alone in Rio’s space wasn’t exactly comfortable yet. “Do you need to rush or can I get dressed?”

He smiled as he reached up to trace the side of her face, hooking a piece of her hair back behind her ear. “You can get dressed. We’ll leave in ten.”

———————————

“I’m seeing someone.”

Annie choked on her coffee.

“What?” Ruby said, already passing some napkins to Annie.

“That guy I sent the picture of,” Beth admitted.

Ruby’s eyes narrowed. “You said that was a one time thing.”

“Yeah, well,” Beth tapped her foot. “If Dean asks, say we’ve been dating for a few months.”

Annie tapped the side of her mug. “So how are things with Rio? Your beau, that you have had for a long time and who I definitely know about.” She put a little verbal flourish on his name.

Ruby looked to Beth, clearly interested in the answer as well.

“Good.”

Annie shook her head. “You think you’re getting away with that little? Nope. Cough it up.”

“We’ve met a few times, went out to dinner last night,” Beth said.

“Met?” Ruby said, doing air quotes.

Annie laughed. “She means that he’s been getting it in. Damn Beth, I’m proud of you.”

Beth took a too fast sip of her coffee, burning her tongue.

“Alright, spill,” Annie demanded, motioning with her hand. “I’m in a dry patch and I need to know that someone’s getting it good. Not you, Ruby,” she cut off whatever Ruby was about to say. “We already know about Stan and there are times that I still struggle to look that man in the eye. And it’s not because he’s a cop and I have weed on me.”

“Annie!” Beth scolded.

Her younger sister rolled her eyes. “Please? Pretty, pretty please. Share time.”

Ruby nudged her arm. “You know Beth’s not going to share. Which, might I remind you, is all your fault.”

“I was a teenager, of course my reaction to being told about Dean’s junk and sexual prowess was going to be disgust!” Annie slapped the table top. “What did you expect?”

The two of them started to bicker back and forth, needling each other as Beth watched them fondly.

“When we go out, he doesn’t pay attention to other women,” she said, without really thinking about it.

Their heads whipped towards her so fast that it was eerie.

Annie’s brow went up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“When you and Greg were together, if you went out, did he ever look at other women?” Annie considered the question, then nodded. “Stan?” Ruby shook her head.

“Dean did. If there was a pretty woman around, Dean looked. Rio doesn’t,” Beth shrugged. “There'll be a beautiful young woman trying to get his attention and it’s like he doesn’t even see them, although I know that he does. It happened twice last night - this girl at the bar and then a woman on the street. I asked him about it and he said that he got tired of easy.”

Annie cackled. “He said that?”

“And then said that nothing about me is easy,” Beth’s cheeks burned, “but that I’m worth it.”

“Damn right you are!” Ruby set her mug down and reached over to pat Beth’s cheek. “You are the least easy person I know.”

“Hey!” Beth gasped.

Annie was nodding. “Yeah, there’s not an easy bone in your body. Two weeks ago, you came over and made me take my garbage out.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t count,” Ruby told Annie. “That was nasty.”

“It really was,” Beth winced at the memory.

“But he’s not wrong,” Ruby turned her attention back to Beth. “The last dude you slept with, you married. And if I remember that mating ritual right, it took him a while to get into your high waisted, acid wash jeans. You may have jumped into bed with this guy, but he had to deal with Dean first. That alone would have sent lesser men running.”

Annie snorted, choking on her coffee.

“He said something else,” Beth tried to shift the conversation, “about how I don’t play mind games or ask for expensive presents. How that makes me different.”

“Expensive presents are an option?” Annie asked, gaze gone calculating, leaning towards Beth. “Because you should definitely accept those.”

“What’s he do for work?” Ruby wanted to know.

Which…led them to exactly what Beth hadn’t wanted to talk about. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Ruby parroted back at her. “What?”

Annie raised her hand. “Not going to lie, I immediately googled him after you sent us that photo of his ID. I did my dude-diligence,” she emphasized the I by pointing at herself, “and I didn’t see anything too sus. FaceBook is set to private. No news articles about him committing a homicide or anything like that.”

Beth had done the same search the day after they’d met, finding the same lack of information. “I haven’t really asked him. He said he’s self-employed.”

“That could mean a lot of things, Bee,” Ruby cautioned. “Just be careful, okay?”

Beth looked between the two of them. “Come on," she laughed, "this is me. I’m always careful.”

Annie and Ruby both looked contemplative for a second, then nodded.

“Yeah, she’s got a point,” Annie said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to neveroffanon and medievalraven for beta-ing and to all y'all reading and leaving kudos and commenting! As always, please feel free to let me know if there's content that I should warn/tag for.
> 
> Chapter title is from “Might Not” by Belly ft. The Weeknd. It's not a great song, but this line makes me laugh every time.


	5. I'mma keep your things deep in myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an incident at the bar, which leads Beth to start asking some questions about Rio's work. Rio has no intention of answering them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let everyone know, at the end there is a brief mention of Beth having done things like calorie counting and having been upset with herself for her food choices in the past. She will not be engaging in anything like that in this story and Rio is very much “I like you like this.” But I don’t want anyone to be blindsided.

_I’ll be there in a few._

Beth set her phone back onto the bar, rolling her neck from side to side. It had been a busy week since her date with Rio and she hadn’t actually had a chance to see him again. They’d talked plenty on the phone, but every attempt at meeting was foiled. Monday night, the kids all had activities. Tuesday was Marcus’ parent-teacher night at school. Wednesday, Dean went down with a bug, leaving her to cover for his day. Thursday, Rio was working. Friday, girls’ night. When she had offered to cancel, he’d laughed.

“And have your girls hate me? Nah. Saturday works for me.”

So here she was, waiting at what she was beginning to think of as their bar.

Shifting her weight to her other foot, Beth scanned the far end of the bar, hoping to catch him coming in.

Someone set a hand on Beth’s back and she stiffened, instantly aware that it wasn’t Rio’s hand.

She turned towards the person and was met with someone she might have described to Annie and Ruby as Dean 2.0.

“Don’t touch me,” she said. 

He smiled at her. “You looked like you were about to fall over, sweetheart.”

The term of endearment that sounded so right coming off of Rio’s tongue was foul off this man’s.

“I wasn’t,” Beth told him. “And if I was, I’m certainly not now.”

He laughed. “You don’t have to be such a bitch. I’m just trying to help.”

Beth glanced around, looking for Rio, but he hadn’t arrived yet. And the guy still hadn’t taken his hand off her back.

“Get your hand off of me,” Beth said firmly.

“Got a boyfriend?” He asked.

Beth tried to turn away. “That’s none of your business.”

“What, you’re too good for me, is that it?” His breath was heavily laced with beer.

One second, Beth was trying to get the bartender’s attention and the next, her would-be-suitor was crumbling to the ground, Rio’s hand digging into the man’s shoulder.

“I think,” Rio said calmly, “that it’s time for you to fuck off.”

The man’s friends or coworkers or whoever dashed over to help him up, shooting Rio dirty looks as he let go, moving towards Beth.

“That’s assault,” the guy snapped, his hand going to his shoulder.

Rio laughed. “Good luck with that. Believe me, ain’t nobody seen shit.”

The guy straightened up, but a bouncer approached, looking like someone had managed to clone Vin Diesel, then made him bigger.

“There a problem?” The bouncer asked.

Still rubbing his shoulder, the guy turned to the bouncer. “Yes, this man assaulted -“

The bouncer cut him off. “Wasn’t talking to you.”

“We’re fine, Freddie,” Rio drawled, leaning against the bar. “I just think that it’s time these boys found somewhere else to drink.”

It seemed to finally click with the man and his friends that Rio was someone they didn’t want trouble with for multiple reasons. They fled and Beth exhaled, relieved. She turned towards Rio to greet him properly, only to find his jaw tight.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, reaching out for his hand right away.

Rio’s head pulled back slightly. “What’s wrong?” He asked, toneless. He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

He stepped away and started to make his way towards the exit.

“Wait!” Beth grabbed her purse, yanked out some cash and threw it towards the bartender, then followed him. He must have been walking slowly because she didn’t have too much trouble catching up once they were outside.

“Rio!” She called after him.

He half turned towards her.

“What, a guy puts his hand on my back when I don’t want it there and you blame me?”

Rio stiffened, finally meeting her eyes.

“I told him to get away from me, but he wouldn’t,” Beth snapped. “And then I was looking for you because he was being persistent, but you weren’t there, so he didn’t listen.”

Rio’s jaw was twitching as he clenched and unclenched his teeth.

“God, you’re such an asshole,” Beth told him. She could feel tears welling up, though she wasn’t sure if it was in anger or frustration.

Rio’s hand came down on her hip before she could move away. “I thought it was your ex.”

“What?”

“When I came in,” Rio said through clenched teeth. “I thought you and your ex were getting cozy.”

“Why the hell would Dean and I be getting cozy?” Beth stared at him, wondering if maybe he’d had a brain injury. “Here, of all places!”

Rio laughed. “You kidding? That man wants you back.”

Beth snorted. Yeah, right.

“Even if that was true, which it’s not, do you think I want him back?” Beth shook her head. “That’s insane.”

“He’s the father of your children, Elizabeth,” Rio leaned down slightly, “I think he’d be perfectly happy to leverage that to get back in your bed.”

“I don’t want Dean back,” Beth said, fisting the front of Rio’s shirt. “The only reason that I’ve given him even a shred of forgiveness is because I want to move on and not be tethered to him through resentment. I don’t want my kids to have to watch that. If I could just forget about him, I would.”

Rio kept working his jaw, looking unsure. She didn’t think that she’d ever seen him with a look like that before.

Beth raised one hand and set it on his cheek. “I want _you_ , Rio.”

His lips parted and Beth went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He was stiff for a moment, then his hands were on her back, pulling her close so that he could devour her mouth.

“C’mon,” he said when he pulled away, tugging her towards the back where he’d parked.

She let him pull her into the backseat of his car and climbed onto his lap without prompting to keep kissing him.

Rio pushed Beth’s skirt up, kneading her thighs and hips once it was up to her waist. “C’mon, Elizabeth,” he growled into the underside of her jaw. “I need you.”

Beth tried to undo Rio’s pants, but they were pressed too close together for it to do much good. She whimpered, then pulled away.

Rio immediately tried to pull her back, but she shoved her hands down between them to grip his cock through his jeans and squeezed.

“Gimme a second,” she told him.

His grin was wide when he realized what she was doing and he lifted his hips to help her work his pants and underwear down. Then he took over - taking himself in hand and lining them up as Beth sank down slowly.

It was a stretch to take him without preparation and once or twice, she had to pause to catch her breath, but Rio didn’t rush her. He whispered what she assumed was encouragement in Spanish against her ear, massaged her clit lightly, teased the tops of his breasts with his tongue and teeth.

Then he was all the way in and the trouble became not hitting her head on the low ceiling of his car. Rio seemed to understand, reaching to cradle the back of her head.

“Take your time,” he purred.

Beth shook her head. “We’re in public.”

Rio chuckled. “Worried that someone will come by and see you like this?” He nudged his hips upwards, grinding against her. “Worried it’ll be your new friend?”

Beth bit the curve of his neck. He hissed, but his hands tightened on her hair. “Fuck,” he cursed. “Like that.”

She started to lift her hips up slightly, not entirely willing to pull farther away. Even if she had been, she wasn’t sure that she was capable of it.

Rio had different ideas. Grabbing her hips, he kept her pressed tightly against him as he shifted her back and forth until she picked up the steady, rolling motion on her own.

“Oh,” she moaned, grabbing onto the seat on either side of Rio’s neck.

“Fuck, Elizabeth,” Rio groaned, clasping the back of her neck to hold her in place as he thrust up. “You drive me crazy.”

Beth was busy gasping and sobbing into his throat, her hands slipping on the back of the seat. Dimly, she registered Rio’s own groan.

As she came down from her orgasm, trembling in Rio’s hold, she realized something.

Reaching down between them, she lifted herself off Rio’s cock - his bare cock - and felt the tell-tale trickle of cum.

“Seriously?” Beth scowled at Rio, trying to ignore the part of her that was delighting in the sensation of his cum leaking out of her.

Rio blinked wide brown eyes at her as he moved forward to press his lips to the centre of her clavicle. “I’m clean.”

Beth stiffened. “You’re sure about that?”

The softness on his face disappeared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That one of us has had more sexual partners than the other.” Beth pulled her panties back up.

Rio laughed. “Yeah, but the thing about that is that I bet you’ve gone bareback a hell of a lot more times than I have and your ex fucked around on you.”

Beth blushed, only partly in anger.

“Shit,” Rio grabbed hold of her hips and held her in place, already apologetic, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Still tense, Beth let him embrace her. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

“But I don’t appreciate the insinuation that I’ve got other women in my bed. There’s nobody but you,” he said. “And I'm up to date with my tests and physicals.”

She sighed.

“I got caught up,” he went on. “Didn’t do what I’m supposed to so I can take care of you.”

Beth nodded.

“You okay?” He asked, fingers settling under her chin.

“I’m fine. I’m on birth control.”

He rubbed his thumb back and forth.

“What do you do?” Beth asked. “For work.”

Rio leaned back in his seat, working his jaw side to side.

“Don’t lie to me,” she added. Because that was what he was considering - whether or not to tell her the truth.

He considered her. “It’s not exactly legal most of the time,” he hedged. A truth, but not a whole one.

“Is it dangerous?” She asked.

“It can be.”

Beth tilted her head to the side. “For you or for other people?”

One of his brows went up. “Both,” he replied. “But I’m still breathing.”

“Do you have some kind of limits?”

He continued to study her. “How about you tell me what you’re asking me specifically instead of making me try to guess,” he said, just as calm as ever.

“I’m wondering if there are things you won’t do.”

“Plenty,” he answered. “But it’s probably not as clear cut as whatever you’re thinking.”

“What’s that mean?” Beth leaned towards him.

He sighed. “Can we not do this here?” He jerked his head to the parking lot outside.

Beth pursed her lips, but nodded.

He helped her get herself together enough to move to the front seat, righting himself much quicker.

“Am I basically on the show Mob Wives?” Beth asked, turning her head towards him as they pulled out of the parking spot.

Rio’s eyebrows went up. “There’s a show called Mob Wives?”

“There was.” She waved a hand. “Not the point.”

“I’m not in the mob,” he said slowly. “Not in the mafia. Don’t have any kind of international crime syndicate. “

“I suppose that’s a relief,” Beth said.

He laughed, although she was pretty sure that he didn’t actually think that it was funny.

“I’m a businessman, Elizabeth,” Rio said, stopping at a red light. “You don’t need to know more than that.”

He leaned over and kissed her, removing any chance for protest.

“Come on,” he said, rubbing his bottom lip against hers, “let’s go back to mine.” He turned his attention back to the road, but set his hand on her thigh.

“You’re just horny,” Beth muttered.

Rio sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he shot her a look from the corner of his eyes. “For you? Yeah.”

His fingers tugged at her skirt until he could touch her bare skin.

“Rio,” she scolded.

“What?” He asked.

“I know what you’re doing,” she told him.

He grinned. “What am I doing, Elizabeth?”

“You’re trying to distract me.” Beth put her hand over his and moved it away. Laughing, he pinched the inside of her thigh before putting his hand on the steering wheel.

He didn’t give her a chance to ask more questions once they got back to his place, his hand already up the skirt of her dress before they’d climbed the stairs to his floor, his finger already inside of her as he unlocked his door.

Beth moaned, riding his hand as he worked his finger in and out, crowding her into the loft and slamming the door shut behind them.

“Get on the bed,” he told her.

———————

A couple of nights later, Rio came over and deposited an envelope in front of her.

“What is it?” Beth asked.

“You have to open it,” he teased her, watching her face as she read the contents. “Clean bill of health.”

She got up, waving for him to stay seated. Grabbing her own test results, she handed them over to him.

He grinned and tossed them aside to hoist her up onto the dining room table. He fucked her there, bare, and came as deep as he could inside of her, driving Beth towards a second orgasm.

When he pulled out, he slid his fingers back in.

Beth moaned and tried to sit up, but he set his other hand on her collarbone.

“What is it?” She asked.

He crooked his fingers, staring down at her with a satisfied expression, then pulled them free with an obscene noise. Beth’s whole body jolted.

“Did we spoil dinner?” He helped her upright, but herded her away from her panties when she went to grab them.

“Rio!” Beth gasped as he tugged the skirt of her dress back down again.

He shook his head. “This way, I can touch you easier,” he said, his voice dropping until his rasp made Beth shiver. “You know I like this.” He squeezed her ass.

She batted him away, though it didn’t really work. He stayed close to her as they moved into the kitchen and he plastered himself against her back.

“Smells good,” he commented.

“If you want to help, you could cut some bread,” Beth suggested.

He hummed, burying his face in her neck, then straightened up. Beth had already taken out the knife and cutting board, so she wasn’t worried.

Until she turned around to find that he’d cut the entire loaf.

“Rio!”

He grinned at her, boyish and warm. “You don’t gotta yell, ‘lizabeth, I’m right here.”

“We’re not going to eat all of that bread,” Beth scolded him. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.”

Rio’s eyebrow went up. “You gluten intolerant or whatever?”

“That many carbs is definitely bad for you.” Beth checked the rice and fluffed it, moving it off the stove.

Rio picked up a piece of bread and took a bite, chewing. “Tastes pretty fucking good to me.”

Beth flushed. “I made it.”

He looked down at the bread. “Really?” Beth nodded. He took another bite. “Carbs are delicious. You one of those women that counts her calories and shit?”

She shook her head. She’d tried. More than once. She’d never lost more than a couple of pounds and it had always been so miserable. She'd spent the whole time berating herself for any number of her food choices.

Rio crooked his finger, gesturing for her to come to him. Curious, Beth went.

“Good,” Rio said. “Because I like you like this.” He dropped his hands to her hips and squeezed, then slid them back and down so that they were resting just beneath her ass. “Besides, I was cutting it all so I can use it to make us French toast in the morning. Can’t have it too soft.”

Beth ran her eyes all over his face. “You’re going to make me French toast?”

Rio nodded.

“That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?” She asked. “Assuming that you’ll still be here in the morning.”

He smiled and tugged her in for a kiss. “I think we’ve already established that. Am I wrong about you letting me stay over?” From his expression, it was clear he knew how she was going to answer.

“Presumptuous,” Beth repeated, but kissed him again. “Let’s eat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my betas - neveroffanon and medievalraven! Thanks to everyone reading, leaving kudos and commenting! I love reading your comments, especially when I’m supposed to be doing responsible things, such as schoolwork. Like “Oh, you want me to pay attention to school when people are saying nice things online about my word pornography? Ha! As if.” Chapter title from Kehlani's Undercover.
> 
> Another gentle reminder that there are dynamics at work here that are not healthy and that I do not endorse. As usual, if you find that there's something that I should tag/warn for, please let me know.


	6. If he's as bad as they say, then I guess I'm cursed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have an argument. Beth meets Marcus.

It ate at Beth - not knowing what Rio did. When a TV show about drug dealing came on, she wondered if that was the business he was in. Counterfeit goods? High end art theft?

The pointed questions that Ruby asked didn’t help. “I just want you to be safe, Honey Bee,” Ruby said.

She just couldn’t stop thinking about it. They had a couple more dates - the first of which ended with a phone call that made Rio’s jaw tight before he took her home early, kissing her goodnight and apologizing. The other finished with them in bed, working out the stress of their respective weeks.

“Do you work with -“ Beth started to ask as they lay together in his bed afterwards.

“I’m not going to tell you that shit, Elizabeth,” Rio said with a scowl, getting out of bed.

She watched him walk to the kitchen and get a glass of water, then lean against the counter to drink it, staring back at her the whole time. Beth clutched the sheet tighter to her chest.

He drained the glass, put it in the sink and came back.

“Why not?” She asked.

Rio sighed as he lifted the sheet and slid underneath it. “Because the less you know, the better.”

“If I don’t know what’s happening then -“

He knifed upwards and set his fingers over her lips. “If you don’t know what’s happening, then you won’t try to involve yourself in it. The feds can’t ask you about it. The cops can’t ask you about it. I know you think that you’re all tough and shit, but you aren’t, Elizabeth.”

Every time he said her name like that, it made her feel slightly ashamed. She flushed, looking away from him and dislodging his fingers.

“You need to understand this,” he went on, putting his hand on her cheek to redirect her face back towards his, “I’m doing this to protect you. Something happens to me, you stay free and clear of it.”

“How can I make an informed choice?” she asked stubbornly.

His jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth. “You’re informed enough.”

“That’s not -“

“You need specifics?” he raised his voice slightly. “You want to know exactly what I move, when, how much? Who I’ve got bad blood with, who I’ve had to deal with?” He shook his head. “No.”

“But -“

“But nothing,” he cut her off again. “If, one day, something comes up that you need to know, I’ll tell you.”

“But -“

He slid away from her and stood up, grabbing his pants and stepping into them.

“Where are you going?” Beth wrapped the sheet around herself and tried to get out of bed.

Rio yanked on his shirt and stepped away from the bed. “To clear my head.”

“Are you coming back?” she asked.

He finally looked at her again, jaw tight. “Not tonight.”

Beth’s head jerked back. “This is your space. I’ll go,” she said.

He shrugged, grabbing his keys. “The door locks behind you.”

And like that, Rio was gone, leaving Beth standing in his loft.

—————

Two mornings later, Beth was feeling a little less confrontational and a whole lot more regretful.

Rio hadn’t reached out, not even to say something about the pair of underwear she’d left there. They were probably lost now. He’d most likely added them to his hoard of panties from women he’d dumped. Or something.

The rational part of Beth’s brain kept insisting that it was nothing like that, but her emotions got the better of her the longer that their stalemate went on.

Beth looked at her phone.

No messages.

She tossed it aside, wincing when it bounced off the couch cushions and clattered to the ground.

“What’s that about?” Annie asked.

“Nothing.” As soon as she answered, Beth knew that she’d done so too quickly. “Rio.”

Annie sat up. “What about Rio?”

“We got into an argument,” Beth replied. “He stormed off.”

“What was the argument about?” Annie paused the movie and moved the bowl of chips onto her lap.

Beth bit her lip. She’d thought about telling Ruby and Annie about the argument that she’d had with Rio, but she’d chickened out every time.

Of the two, Annie was less likely to freak out about Rio’s work. But what did it say that she wasn’t as willing to speak with Ruby about it?

“His work.”

“What’s he do?” Annie kept eating the chips.

Beth kept her eyes on Annie’s. “He’s in business. Some of it is, apparently, a little shady.” There, that was informative enough to give Annie something to go off of and vague enough that she wouldn’t worry.

Annie stopped eating, a bad sign.

“How shady?” Annie asked. “Like, he’s one slip away from serving 25 to life or like misdemeanour shady?”

Beth shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what we argued about. I asked some questions. He said it was better if I don’t know.”

Annie considered that. “Maybe he’s right.”

“You’re siding with him?” Beth asked, incredulous.

Annie shrugged, picking the chips back up. “He might be trying to protect you.” Which was what Rio had said. “And himself. Maybe he’s not sure of how you’d react. Besides,” she went on, “if you know, what are you going to do with that information? Is there a specific thing that could make or break this?”

“Yes,” Beth admitted. She’d given it a great deal of thought over the past few days and there were some hard limits to her understanding.

Annie crunched a chip. “So ask him if he does those things.”

“And what, he’s just going to answer me?” Beth stared at the ceiling.

“I dunno,” Annie said around a mouthful of chip. “What do you want me to say, Beth?” Annie sighed. “You’re gonna have to decide what you can live with and what you can’t. If you had a hardline stance on this, you wouldn’t even be considering it. You’d be putting him behind you, making him a fond memory as you just got on with your life.”

Beth scrunched up her nose. She had a point, not that Beth wanted to admit that to her younger sister. 

“You aren’t going to tell me that I’m making a mistake?” Beth watched as Annie sipped from her Coke. “Tell me to steer clear of him?”

Annie set her drink back down and wiped her hands on her jeans. “On paper, Dean was a good guy. Even now, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who think you’re nuts for kicking him out. After all, he went to soccer games and had all those pictures of you and the kids up in his office. But he was a terrible husband and a shitty person. Rio…” she trailed off.

Beth waited her out.

“Rio might be wrong on paper - tattoos, crime, all that fun stuff - but that doesn’t mean that he’s not a good guy.” Annie shrugged. “Sometimes the things we expect to work, don’t. Sometimes it’s the things that shouldn’t that do.”

—————

Rio was a man of limited habits. “Habits make it easy for people to find you if they’re looking,” he’d said when she commented on it. So it wasn’t like she could just ambush him at his normal hangouts and going to his loft felt weird. A little too personal, considering she didn’t know how this was going to unfold. 

So she texted him. _Can we talk?_

His response was an address that led her to a small café by his place and a time, an hour and a half later. When Beth arrived, he was the only customer, sitting at one of the little tables with a plate of breakfast foods and a tea, despite the fact that it was 4 pm.

Beth slid into the seat across from Rio. He ignored her at first, attention on his plate.

It was going to have to be her who sucked it up and said something. She lifted her hand from her lap and reached out to set it on his where it rested next to his tea.

He froze, eyes flicking up to her. He studied her, eyes boring into her until she felt like he was peeling her open, then slowly turned his hand over so that their palms were together.

“I understand why you don’t want to tell me,” she said softly, “but,” he tensed, “I’m asking that if there’s something that I need to know - that you tell me rather than hide it. If there’s someone that tries to approach me about you, I need to know what your legitimate businesses are. I need to know what I can say.”

He nodded once.

“I’m trusting you,” Beth said, “to trust me when you need to.”

“Okay,” he said.

“I didn’t like it when you just -“ she bit the inside of her cheek, “when you just left. You didn’t give us a chance to talk. You just ended the conversation without…”

“I shouldn’t have.” He leaned back in his chair. “I was pissed, not at you,” he clarified, “needed to clear my head so I could talk about it.”

“Just tell me that next time,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Tell me that you’re coming back to talk about it. Something.”

He nodded.

Looking at him, she knew that if she wanted a sorry, she would probably have to ask for it directly. 

She also had a feeling that he wouldn’t do it again. More than words, that was what she wanted.

He finished his tea, then stood, tugging her up with him. The walk back to his loft was made in silence, but it was a charged one. When they stopped at a crosswalk, he stroked the inside of her wrist. As they approached his building, his hand started to tease the side of her breast.

Make up sex, combined with the remnants of Rio’s anger and frustration, was a revelation. At first, he wouldn’t let her come, always stopping just short of her peak. When she thought she was going to have to murder him and just give herself an orgasm, he switched tactics and he wouldn’t let up. She lost count of her orgasms, some of them blending together in one long haze of pleasure.

“Oh god,” Beth sobbed when he sat up and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand before kissing her. She could feel his hard cock against her belly, so she reached down and grabbed it.

“I need you,” she told him.

Rio chuckled. “Then put me inside of you, Elizabeth.”

She did just that, sliding a little further down the bed so that she could hook her leg around him. She was so wet that he slid in without trouble. She scrambled to grab onto his shoulders as he pressed inside her oversensitive body.

“Grab onto the headboard,” he said. It took her a second to uncurl her fingers from his body and lift them to wrap around the metal bars at the top of his bed.

Up on his knees, Rio looked down at her and nudged his hips against hers, drawing a whimper. He grabbed the backs of her thighs and adjusted her position.

“Like that,” he said.

She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, whether he was talking to her or to himself, but he started to pound into her. She braced herself against the headboard to stop him from pushing her up the bed.

Every slap of his hips seemed to drive her breath out of her lungs. Rio’s eyes were fixed on her breasts, which bounced with every movement she made. She arched her back slightly, lifting them towards him.

He sucked his lip into his mouth, then bent to cover her nipple with his mouth. Beth moaned, which turned into a hiss when he bit it.

She tilted her hips, wanting him to join her.

“Gonna come again for me?” Rio asked, straightening back up. “I bet you think you can’t.”

Beth didn’t say anything.

His hands came down to the crease of her pelvis, his pinkies stretching out towards her hip while his thumbs pressed against her on either side of his cock, squeezing her around him.

Beth, who would have thought that anything past her first orgasm was impossible about a month ago, just gave in, letting him do what he wanted to get her there.

She came, nearly sobbing, right as Rio hit his own peak. He jerked against her, not making much noise beyond a harsh breath as he spilled. Dropping down, he pressed their mouths together.

Rio pulled out, but kept his tongue inside her mouth as he did. Beth whimpered, beyond oversensitive at this point. She turned her head to the side, breaking the kiss.

He didn’t complain, just shifted his mouth to her neck, her clavicle, her chest.

“Rio,” she whined, pushing at his head.

When he pulled up, he was chuckling. “Did I tire you out?”

“Yes.”

He rolled onto his back, tugging her after him so that she was straddling his thigh. “You got anywhere to be?”

She shook her head.

“So I can keep you here?” His hand was stroking up and down her back, making her shiver. “Tie you to my bed?”

“You do that and we’ll be right back where we started,” Beth told him.

The long lines turned to circles of his fingers just above her ass. “That a problem?”

She groaned into his chest. “You’re insatiable.”

She shook with his laughter. “Nah, I’m feeling pretty satiated for now. Later though? Later, I’ll be ready all over again. Maybe I just want to keep you warmed up.”

Beth twitched away from his hand, but couldn’t get far without actually moving off of him. Which she was pretty sure she didn’t want to do.

“Wanna introduce you to Marcus.”

Beth bolted upright, staring down at Rio. “Really?”

“Nah, I’m just making it up,” he teased. “Yeah, really. He’s curious about you.”

“He knows about me?” Beth couldn’t hide her surprise.

Rio nodded.

“How?”

“Someone,” he squeezed her ass, “left her necklace here.”

Beth gasped, covering her mouth. “I’m sorry!”

“Don’t be. Made it easier to bring it up.” Rio shifted, adjusting her position as he did. “Not to mention, I shared those brownies with him. He wants to meet you. Got real excited when I mentioned that you’ve got four kids, but I think he musta watched Cheaper By the Dozen at Nat’s or something because he’s got some real interesting ideas about siblings.”

Beth giggled. She hadn’t told her kids about Rio, but she’d been toying with the idea of it. Sitting them down and giving them the “mommy has a boyfriend” talk. She’d put it off every time and then they’d argued and -

“Come meet us at the park tomorrow,” Rio said, brushing her hair back to hook it behind her ear. “It’s Sunday, so he’s allowed to get a treat. If you’re good, I’ll let you get one too.”

She bit her lip. “I’d like that.”

———————————

Beth got out of the car, immediately finding Rio with her eyes. He was tossing a football back and forth with a little boy that had to be Marcus. She walked towards them and saw when it registered with Rio that she was there. He caught the football and tucked it under his arm, walking towards his son and saying something.

Marcus turned around and looked at Beth, offering her a shy smile.

“You must be Marcus,” Beth greeted him when she reached them. “Your dad sings your praises all the time.”

He looked up at Rio, who rubbed the back of Marcus’ neck. “Marcus, this is Miss Elizabeth.”

“Just Beth is -“

Rio cut her off with a look.

“Hi Miss Elizabeth,” Marcus said. “Are you coming to get hot chocolate with us?”

Beth smiled. “If that’s okay with you.”

He nodded.

“In that case,” Rio said, “we might as well start walking in that direction, right pop?”

“Right,” Marcus agreed, eyeing Beth with open curiosity.

“How old are you?” Beth asked.

“I’m six,” he answered as they started towards the café across from the park.

“That’s a good age to be. Did you start first grade this year?” At his nod, she went on, “My youngest daughter, Jane, did too. How are you liking it?”

That drew Marcus out enough to start telling her about his teacher and the kids in his class and the field trip that they were going to take to the forest conservation area next week.

“Have you been there?” He asked her as they crossed the street.

Beth nodded. “I have. On field trips with the kids’ classes and on family outings. Is this your first time going?”

“No, but when I went before I was really little so I don’t remember,” Marcus explained. “Daddy told me and he showed me some pictures.”

Beth glanced at Rio. “You chaperoning?”

His eyes widened in horror. “Nah, I’ve got work,” he said. Beth rolled her eyes. “You need a minute to decide what to order?”

Marcus tilted his head back to look at Beth. “Do you want to look at the cakes with me? Daddy can wait in line.”

Rio laughed quietly, but Beth accepted the invitation to go to the display with Marcus. “My favourite is chocolate,” he told her, “but not from here,” he added in a whisper.

Beth bit her lip. “What do you like from here?”

He surveyed the display. “I like the strawberry one,” he pointed to the shortcake. “Dad likes the one with caramel.”

“They all look good,” Beth said.

Marcus zeroed in on the Oreo cheesecake. “How about that one?”

“Sounds delicious.”

Rather than going right back to Rio, Marcus pointed out some of his other favourites - the cowboy cookies and the sugar cookies - until Rio was next up to order.

“Hot chocolate?” He checked with Marcus. “You?”

“Vanilla cappuccino, please.”

“What’s the treat today?” Rio ruffled Marcus’ hair as they stepped up to the counter.

“Oreo cheesecake!” Marcus announced.

The woman behind the counter laughed. “Anything else with that cheesecake?”

Rio gave the rest of their order, nudging Beth aside when she tried to go for her wallet.

“We’ll bring it to the table,” the cashier told them.

Marcus led the way to a booth in the corner. He went to get in, then stopped. “You can pick your spot first,” he said to Beth.

“I think you guys have a tradition,” Beth said. “Where do you normally sit?” He pointed. “How about you take your usual spot and I’ll sit across from you.”

Marcus climbed in and Beth slid in across from him, leaving Rio to pick a side.

“I’ll sit with you,” Rio nudged Marcus deeper into the booth. “You don’t take up much space.”

Marcus giggled. “Tia says I have a skinny butt,” Beth choked on a laugh, “just like you.”

Rio scowled. “I’m gonna have to have a talk with her about that,” he muttered.

Beth watched the two of them settle in. The resemblance between the two of them was obvious and Beth could tell that his son had inherited Rio’s self-confidence just from their short interaction.

Marcus sat at the table and watched Beth, chin propped up on his hands.

“It’s rude to stare, pop,” Rio drawled.

“It’s okay,” Beth nudged his foot under the table, “you’re allowed to be curious.“

Marcus leaned forward. “My dad has never had a girlfriend before,” he said.

Beth’s eyes widened. That seemed…inaccurate. She glanced at Rio, who just sighed.

“He hasn’t?” Beth directed the question towards Marcus, who shook his head solemnly. “How am I doing?”

“Mom said that I should be nice even if you were like the girlfriend in The Parent Trap but you’re not like that. You’re nice and you make good brownies and you have princess hair,” Marcus informed her.

Beth blinked, something easing in her belly. She’d still been clinging to her nervousness, but with that, it dissipated. “Thank you,” she replied. “I don’t know that it’s long enough to be princess hair though.”

Marcus nodded. “It is! Rapunzel has short hair and she’s a princess. But yours is like Ariel’s, just like Daddy said.”

Just like Daddy said, huh? Beth looked at Rio. He grinned and shrugged one shoulder. The server dropped off their drinks - tea for Rio, hot chocolate for Marcus, and vanilla cappuccino for her - along with the slice of cake.

Marcus was momentarily distracted by spooning some of the whipped cream into his mouth.

“My daddy said that you made those brownies that he brought me. They were the best brownies I’ve ever had,” he said. “He said they were salty caramel but they didn’t taste salty.”

Beth sipped her cappuccino. “It’s just a little bit of salt,” she explained, holding up her fingers to indicate how little. “It brings out the flavour of the caramel. Have you tried different kinds of salt?”

Marcus looked to Rio, who nodded.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what kinds,” he replied.

“Probably table salt and a coarse salt, maybe sea salt. But there’s lots of kinds.” Beth started to list them off. “You have table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, fleur de sel, Maldon salt, all kinds.”

“What kind did you use?” Marcus asked, starting in on the cake. “For the brownies.”

“Sea salt and fleur de sel.”

“Two kinds?” Marcus’ eyes got wide.

Beth nodded. “But it was worth it, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. They were really good and when I told him he should go buy more, he said that he couldn’t. But then later he told me that you made them and that you’re his girlfriend.” Marcus chatted with the ease of a happy kid. “That’s when he said you have hair like Ariel.”

She looked at Rio, who wasn’t even bothering to hide his smile. He shrugged when he saw her looking. “You do,” he said. “It’s pretty.”

Marcus nodded with his dad.

Beth couldn’t fight down her blush, so she took her time with her coffee.

“How many kids do you have?” Marcus asked after a moment.

“I have four,” Beth answered. “Two boys and two girls. Kevin, Danny, Emma, and Jane.”

“And Jane is the same age as me?” Marcus took another spoonful of whipped cream.

“She is,” Beth confirmed. “Kenny’s almost thirteen. Danny is ten and Emma’s eight.”

Marcus looked at her for a moment. “Could you bring Jane to play next time? Then you and Dad can hold hands and do stuff like that.”

Beth laughed as Rio put his hand on his son’s head with a sigh.

“Thanks for the offer, pop,” he said, “but I think me and Miss Elizabeth are great company.”

Marcus shot his dad a look that said _Sure, dad._

Still smiling at Marcus, Beth made an offer. “How about the two of us get to know each other a little bit more and then you can meet all of my kids. I don’t want the rest of them to get jealous.”

“Jealous?” Marcus’ brow wrinkled. He took a careful sip of his hot chocolate. “It’s too hot,” he told Rio. “Can you blow on it?”

Rio pulled the mug towards him and started to stir the hot chocolate, occasionally pulling up a spoonful to blow on it. Seeing him perform such a simple, but loving action made Beth’s heart feel like it was about to burst.

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, because they like meeting new people. They probably wouldn’t think it was very fair if only one of them met you and your dad first.”

“My daddy hasn’t met them?” Marcus looked between her and Rio.

“Not yet,” Beth said. “But soon.”

Marcus smiled, nodding. “Is it because there’s only one of me and there’s four of them an’ it’s easier?”

The fact that he’d been able to put that together so quickly made Beth grin. He was perceptive. “That’s part of it. They’ve got all kinds of activities these days too. Hockey mostly.”

“I’m gonna play hockey this year!” Marcus perked up. “We have to go get equipment still though.”

Rio, apparently finished cooling off the hot chocolate, pushed it back towards Marcus and went to work on his own tea.

“That’ll be fun,” Beth said, picking up a fork to try a bite of the cheesecake. It was incredibly sweet and rich, not the kind of thing she’d normally go for herself, but it wasn’t bad.

Marcus followed her lead. “I like this one better than the Turtle cheesecake,” he told Rio.

“Yeah?” Rio took the last fork and took a bite. “Nah, not buying that. The Turtle one’s way better.”

Marcus scoffed and reached out to grab the plate. He moved it away from Rio, so that it was right between him and Beth. “Then you don’t have to eat it. I’ll share with Miss Beth.”

Rio started to laugh, making eye contact with Beth. She took another bite to stop herself from laughing.

“We’re gonna have to have a chat one day about you trying to snake my girl,” Rio teased him, running a hand over Marcus’ hair.

“I’m not!”

Beth couldn’t hold back her laughter at the indignant tone of his voice.

“No?” Rio reached over and took another piece of cheesecake. He winked at Beth.

“Stop teasing,” Marcus scolded his dad. “What’s Miss Beth gonna think of us?”

Rio’s laughter was loud enough to draw the attention of people at the tables around them. “You sound just like your abuela,” he told Marcus with a shake of the head. “Now, I never said I didn’t like the cheesecake, I said that I liked the Turtle one more.” Reaching out, he pulled the plate back towards the middle.

As they polished off their drinks and shared treat, Marcus peppered Beth with all kinds of questions, answering Beth’s in return. She learned that he was in Scouts and that next summer he’d get to go camping with the troop for the first time. He was impressed with Beth’s camping experience. It had always seemed like the most cost effective way to vacation as a family of six, so she had done plenty of it over the years.

“You know how to put up a tent?” Marcus asked. “We’re gonna practice.”

Beth leaned towards him and nodded. “Sleeping tent and kitchen tent.”

“Kitchen tent?” Marcus looked curious.

“You don’t want to eat dinner sitting in the rain, do you?”

He shot Rio a look of alarm. “It might rain?”

“They’ve got the same kind of weather at the camp as we got here, pop,” Rio said.

Marcus made a face. “Maybe I don’t want to go camping.”

Laughing, Beth pulled out her phone. “Don’t worry, it’s still fun, even when it’s raining. See?” She showed him a picture of the kids playing a game of cards at a picnic table that she’d taken the past summer.

“Outdoorsy, huh?” Rio commented. “Wouldn’t have pegged you as the type.”

Beth clucked her tongue. “What’s the type, Rio?”

“People who talk about outdoorsy stuff all the time,” he said while rubbing the back of his head.

She laughed. “Never been camping, have you?”

He shrugged. “I went to sleep away camp when I was a kid.” He paused. “Once.”

Beth smiled, setting her chin on her fist. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you.”

His look of alarm was an almost exact replica of Marcus’. Beth couldn’t help her grin, knowing that she’d found something that Rio might be scared of.

“There’s hiking and canoeing -“ she started, but Rio shook his head.

“None of that,” he said. “I’m a city boy. Hiking is walking to the grocery store instead of driving.”

Marcus giggled. “Abuela walks to the grocery store.”

“Yeah,” Rio said, “she lives a block away and I keep telling her that she shouldn’t be carrying the heavy stuff herself.”

“She has a cart,” Marcus reasoned. “And she says she can’t let you or Tia do it because you never get the right fruits and veggies. You pick the biggest ones and Tia picks whatever’s closest.”

Rio blinked. “I know how to grocery shop.”

Beth watched as Marcus shook his head, taking one of the last bites of cake. “Nope.”

“Do you go grocery shopping with her sometimes?” Beth asked Marcus.

“Yup! She says you can’t just pick the biggest one or the nicest one,” he explained. “You gotta pick ‘em up because every fruit and vegetable is different. Some of them need to be soft and sometimes soft is bad. I don’t always remember which one is which though, so she always tells me. She’s teaching me how to cook.”

“She is?”

Marcus nodded. “She says Daddy and Tia have no appreciation for the art of cooking.” He adopted a slightly higher pitched voice as he said it, leading Beth to assume that this was something that his grandmother had said more than once.

“And do you?” Beth set down her fork.

“I like it,” Marcus said. “I’m not allowed to do a lot of stuff yet, but I help.”

“It’s nice, to go from all those ingredients that maybe don’t taste so good on their own to a meal isn’t it?”

“Yeah!” Marcus agreed. “Next summer, I’m going to have a - what’s it called?”

“Window box,” Rio supplied.

“I’m gonna have a window box so I can grow some tomatoes,” Marcus told Beth.

“I’ve grown tomatoes before,” Beth said, “I’m sure you’ll find it fun to see them grow and then eat them.”

Marcus grinned at her before turning to his dad. “See, Miss Beth gets it.”

Rio’s lips twitched. “Hey, who was it that offered to get you the window box?” he mock-teased Marcus. “That’s what I thought,” he said with a laugh when Marcus, who just took the last bit of cake and ate it.

“We should probably head home soon,” Rio said after a moment. “This one’s got homework.”

Marcus slumped down a little and sighed. Beth swallowed the last mouthful of her coffee and slid the cup away.

“I’m ready when you are,” she told him.

They didn’t rush out, it was more of a slow stroll through the café, then back across to the park, where she and Rio had both parked.

“Bye!” Marcus held out his hand to her once they’d reached the cars. Beth shook it. “It was really nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Marcus.”

Marcus smiled up at her. “I’m glad that you’re my dad’s first girlfriend.”

Rio patted his son’s shoulder. “Alright, pop, enough charming Miss Elizabeth. Get into the car while I say bye.”

“First girlfriend, huh?” Beth teased him as Marcus climbed into the backseat of Rio’s car.

“Don’t even,” he replied, raising his fingers so they rested beneath her chin. “Get home safe, yeah?”

“You too.” Beth went on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly. “I think you might be my first boyfriend too,” she murmured in his ear before pulling away, “if we’re going by Marcus’ rules.”

Rio grinned, ducking down to kiss her again, far too filthy for their surroundings. When he pulled away, Beth felt a little dazed and grabbed onto the front of his shirt.

“I’ll see you later,” he said, dropping his hand to slide over her hip.

“Bye,” she replied after a too long beat, flushing at the spark in Rio’s eye that told her exactly how much of her he planned on seeing later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am eternally grateful to my betas - neveroffanon and medievalraven - and to everyone who reads, kudoses, and comments! If there's something that you think I should warn for, please let me know. Title from Lana Del Rey's "Happiness is a Butterfly".
> 
> Some housekeeping things - the next update of the tattoo au is probably still about 2 weeks away, but it will be at least 16k (that's what I'm at now and I'm still tying a few scenes together), so there's that. I'll be posting something between now and that update, which will be a multi-chaptered fic that is actually completely written (meaning I can actually post it on some kind of actual schedule).


	7. Just a girl undercover and a boy with the getaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More meetings.

Pulling up in front of Beth’s house, Rio ran his hand over his head, scratching lightly. He was pretty sure he was more nervous than he’d been before going into most business meetings these days, but he wasn’t worried. 

Kids weren’t complicated. He slammed the car door shut and started up the driveway.

Rio lifted his brow when Beth came out of the house before he got there.

“Hi,” she said, clearly flustered.

“Hi,” he echoed, bending down to kiss her briefly. “Am I about to get scolded for something?”

She shook her head with a self-conscious laugh. “Just nervous.”

“They’re kids, Elizabeth,” he said, “not an execution squad. I’ll be fine.”

“Will you though?” she asked, shifting from foot to foot. “Marcus is one kid. There’s four in there and -“

He lifted his hand to put a finger against her lips. “Elizabeth,” he said firmly, “I’ve faced plenty of scarier shit in my life.”

“You can’t swear around them!”

Rio dropped his head with a groan. “I do know how to behave, ma.”

Beth wasn’t entirely sure about that, but she led him into the house. Emma was right inside the door, watching them approach.

“This is Emma,” Beth said, putting her hands on her elder daughter’s shoulders. “Emma, this is Mr. Rio.”

“Hi.” Emma was shy, even though she’d been the one to wait by the door from Beth to come in with Rio.

His soft smile seemed to dispel her nerves somewhat. “Nice to meet you, Emma,” he greeted her. “Your ma’s showed me some of your artwork. I liked the one with the tigers.”

Emma stood up straighter. “You did?”

Rio nodded, but Jane’s arrival prevented him from saying anything else. Jane came to stand next to Emma, shoving back against Beth’s belly. “And this is Jane,” Beth introduced her. “Jane, this is Mr. Rio.”

“Hi!” Jane’s greeting was a bit more enthusiastic, but she hung back.

Rio crouched. “I hear you’re six.” Jane nodded. “That’s the same age as my son, Marcus.”

“Is he here?”

“Not today,” Rio shook his head with a smile, “but I know he’s pretty curious about you too. He said to ask if you like Doc McStuffins.”

“I love it!” Jane perked up.

Rio nodded. “I’ll have to pass that along then.”

Jane rocked back on her heels, then leaned forwards, holding onto Beth’s hand as she did. Rio stood back up to his full height again in time to see two boys coming down the stairs.

“And these are the last two,” Beth said, “Kenny’s in the red and Danny’s in the green.”

“Hi,” they both said at the same time, reaching the bottom of the stairs and fanning out so that they were basically forming a wall of Bolands.

“This is Rio,” Beth told them. “My -“ she hesitated, “boyfriend.”

Rio watched them carefully after she said that, but other than a slight tightening of Kenny’s eyes, they didn’t react. “Hi,” he said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Is that your car?” Kenny asked.

Rio glanced out the window to see what Kenny was talking about. “Yeah, that’s mine.”

Kenny turned his head to Rio. “That’s a really nice car.”

“It works how I need it to,” Rio replied with a shrug. “You into cars?”

“Kinda,” Kenny hedged. “When I go to the dealership with my dad, I hear a lot about them.”

Beth swooped in at the mention of Dean. “We were going to have an afternoon snack,” she said, patting Jane’s shoulder, “if you’d like to join us.”

“Did you make it?” he asked.

“I helped,” Emma said.

Rio gave her a smile. “Then I think that I will definitely join you. If you’re even half the chef your mama is, I bet it’s great.” Emma straightened up a little bit, her cheek dimpling.

Afternoon snack turned out to be homemade doughnuts with chocolate filling.

Jane went to take one the second that she climbed onto a stool, but then she looked at Rio and lowered her hand and settled in to wait as the others sat.

“I put the filling in,” Emma explained. “I’m not allowed to use the fryer yet, because it’s dangerous.”

“You’re already way ahead of my skill-level,” he told her as Beth bustled around, pouring tea and juice. When he tried to help, she just shooed him away, so he took a seat at the counter with the kids.

Jane laughed. “Are you a bad cook?” She leaned towards him.

“I’m alright,” he replied, “but when it comes to baking and the really fancy stuff, I think I’m gonna have to leave it to your ma.”

“Why do you call her that?” Jane asked, putting her chin on her hands. “Ma. Or mama.”

“Sometimes I say mami,” Rio said. “Or Elizabeth. But she’s not Elizabeth to you.”

“Mami is Spanish for mom,” Emma spoke up. Rio nodded. “Do you speak Spanish?”

“Depends who you ask,” Rio laughed. “To most people, yeah. Some of my aunties are always telling me I need to practice more though.”

“We started learning it at school.” Rio looked at Danny, who had been relatively quiet so far.

“How’s that going?”

“It’s _hard_ ,” Danny said. “We have to do lots of worksheets, but I think it’s because our teacher isn’t very good at Spanish either,” he lowered his voice to say. 

“You might be right,” Rio said, looking up when Beth set down two mugs of tea and finally took a seat.

“You guys didn’t start yet?”

Rio shook his head. “Not polite to start before everyone’s seated.” He accepted the tea and then pulled the sugar bowl towards him. He saw her smile and knew that she’d brought it for him.

Their afternoon snack quickly turned into an interrogation.

Rio took a bite of his doughnut and chewed. It was good, not that he expected any different from Elizabeth.

“If mami is Spanish for mom, why do you call my mommy that?” Jane asked, staring him down.

“This is delicious,” he said once he was finished chewing. “Especially the filling,” he told Emma with a wink. She smiled, but Jane made a noise of impatience. “It’s a term of endearment,” he explained. “Your mama always call you Jane?”

She shook her head. “Sometimes she calls me bear or honey or Janie Bean.”

“It’s like that,” Rio said.

“Oh.” Jane sat back in her seat and took a big bite of her doughnut.

“Do you call your mom mami?” Emma picked up the thread of questioning.

“Usually she’s mamá. Madre if I really messed up.”

That made Emma laugh and scooch her chair a little closer to him.

Beth’s kids warmed quickly and by the end of their snack, Rio felt fairly comfortable with them.

He started to help clear the table but Beth shook her head. “It’s Danny’s turn to help.”

“Alright, ma,” he said and turned his attention back to Beth’s youngest. Jane was currently explaining the difference between penguins. Her excitement was familiar from Marcus’ various fixations over the years.

“What about the emperor penguin?” he prompted when she trailed off.

She brightened again, and launched into an explanation of their markings.

“Honey bun,” Beth came up behind Jane and set her hands on Jane’s shoulders, “you’re monopolizing the conversation.”

“Nah,” Rio shook his head, “she’s teaching me all kinds of things about penguins. Marcus’ll be impressed.”

“Does your son like penguins?” Emma asked from her spot further down the counter. She’d pulled out some paper and markers at some point during Jane’s talk and had been drawing ever since.

“Yeah, but his favourite is jellyfish right now.”

Jane’s face scrunched up. “Jellyfish are gross.”

Rio chuckled before leaning down a little. “I think that might be part of why he likes them so much,” he told her.

She rolled her eyes. “Boys are gross.”

“Yeah, they can be pretty gross,” Rio agreed. “But did you know that jellyfish can live for hundreds of years?”

“They can?” Jane’s eyes widened.

As he left after a casual dinner, Rio tugged Beth outside with him. Her cheeks reddened, but she followed him and even before he could say anything, she went up on her toes to kiss him. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Rio kissed back.

“Not what I brought you out here for,” he told her after a moment.

Her big blue eyes stared up at him. “No?”

Rio shook his head. “Just wanted to invite you to the park. Marcus has been asking about you since last week. You made a conquest.”

Her smile turned softer. “I liked him too.”

“We Marquez boys have a certain charm,” Rio tapped the underside of her chin, “but you’ve got your own too. The kids at Car Man’s this weekend?” She nodded. “Come to the park on Saturday then. We’ll be there around 9.”

“I could do that, although I do have somewhere I need to be at 10:30,” she told him.

“No problem.” Rio bent to pull her into a deep kiss, his hands dropping down to cup her ass and lift her up against him for a moment, then lowered her back down. “Thanks for dinner. And the doughnuts.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, tucking her hair back even though it kept slipping forwards again. “Good night.”

“Night Elizabeth.” He lowered his voice and she shivered. “Sleep tight.”

———————

“Hi Marcus,” Beth greeted Rio’s son when he reached the bench first, holding a coffee cup carefully with both of his hands.

“Hi Miss Beth,” he replied with a grin, then held out the coffee cup to her. “Vanilla cappuccino.”

Laughing, Beth accepted the cup. “Thanks honey. Where’s your dad?”

Marcus looked over his shoulder towards the parking lot where Rio was talking on his phone. “He got a message and then he said a bad word. I don’t think he knows I heard him though,” he said, climbing up to sit next to her. “He said he had to make a phone call so I said I’d bring you your coffee.” He kicked his legs back and forth.

“Well,” Beth said, “I’m glad that you came over because,” she reached into her purse and pulled out a little bag, “I have something for you.”

Marcus brightened as he took the bag. “What is it?”

“Open it!” Beth told him.

He unwrapped it very carefully, peeling the tape up and folding it down so that it wouldn’t stick again before unrolling the top and reaching in.

“Spiderman!” Marcus grinned as he pulled out the patch.

“I thought you could put it on your backpack or your lunch box,” she said.

He nodded. “Backpack. Can you put it on? Daddy might mess it up.”

Beth laughed. “Of course. Although I think he’d do a good job.”

Marcus gave her a look. “You have to say that because you’re his girlfriend,” he commented, running his fingers over the embroidery. Over his head, Beth could see Rio finish his phone call and start making his way towards them.

“What’s this?” Rio asked, ruffling Marcus’ hair before taking a seat next to Beth.

Marcus showed him the Spiderman patch. “Miss Beth is gonna put it on my backpack.”

Rio turned his head towards her and gave her almost the exact look that Marcus just had. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Beth told him.

“That’s nice of her. You say thank you?” he asked his son.

“Thank you, Miss Beth!” Marcus said, slipping the patch back into the bag. “Can you look after this for me while I play?”

Rio took the bag and slid it into his jacket pocket. “No running up the slide,” he warned.

“Uh huh,” Marcus agreed without really agreeing and took off towards the playground.

“He’s gonna give me grey hairs,” Rio sighed, extending his arm along the back of the bench and leaning over to kiss Beth. “Hey.”

“You don’t have any hairs to turn grey,” Beth teased him as she set her hand on his thigh, fingers on the inside seam of his jeans. “Everything okay?”

Rio shrugged. “A fuck up, but it got caught early enough. Thank fuck.”

“You need to take a break or something,” Beth told him.

He laughed, but it was a humourless sound. “Yeah, that ain’t happening. But if you wanted to come by and help me relax later, Marcus is at Scouts from 6 to 7:30.”

Beth snorted and took a sip of her coffee. “Is he now?”

“Mmhmm,” Rio responded.

“Rio,” she told him, “you need to take care of yourself or you’re going to burn out.”

He turned, setting his elbow on the back of the bench. “Relax, mami, I’m good.”

She frowned at him.

“Turn that frown upside-down,” he teased her, reaching out to push at the corners of her lips.

She gave in after a minute, starting to laugh. “Annie and Ruby are starting to get curious about you.”

He sobered slightly, but didn’t say anything.

“Annie knows a bit more than Ruby. I - I told her a few things when we were fighting. Nothing about your work, no details or anything,” she added when his jaw tightened.

He dropped his hand to her thigh to where hers was resting and squeezed it. “Nah, I’m not upset with you,” he said. “Just thinking ‘bout when we were fighting. Marcus wasn’t real impressed with me. Said I was being a grouch. What were you thinking?”

It took a second for her to catch up. “For introducing you to them?”

Rio jerked his head up once.

“I was wondering if it might be better to have the kids around,” she told him. “There’s less of a chance that they’ll ambush you with anything particularly terrifying or intimate, plus you’re great with them.”

He smiled. “And that’s a panty dropper, yeah?”

Beth scoffed. “Who told you that?”

His grin got bigger at her reaction. “See now I know it’s true, because that blush on your cheeks is the same one you get when I’m teasing you in bed.”

Beth turned her head away from him and pretended to be engrossed in checking her nails. Which she really needed to do something about, her cuticles were a mess.

“I’m kind of curious about that yoga mat poking outta your bag,” Rio said, changing the subject

She nodded her head towards the fitness studio across the street.

“Ah,” Rio replied. He draped his arm around the back of the bench so his hand was on the curve of her neck. “You already go?”

Beth laughed. “I would be a sweaty mess if I had. It starts at 10:30.”

Rio looked her up and down. “Maybe I should come. Supervise.”

She nudged him with her shoulder. “You’d be a terrible supervisor. You’d just keep trying to get me to do downward dog or something.”

“Nah, I’d get you to do the one where you get yours knees up around your ears too. Can you do that one?”

When Beth didn’t say anything, he slid a little closer and dropped his head so that his lips were brushing against her ear as he spoke. “Can you, Elizabeth?”

Her hand flew out to settle on his thigh and she squeezed. “Rio,” she hissed.

“Not an answer,” he said, voice getting even raspier.

She could, in fact, do that. If she warmed up first, of course. “Yes.”

“Now I really want to come supervise,” Rio ran his thumb up and down the back of her neck, “see that for myself.”

“If you come, it’s because you’re doing the class too,” Beth told him. “And it’s not the beginner class.”

He laughed. “What makes you think I’d need the beginner class?”

Beth looked him up and down. “You’ve done yoga before?”

He shrugged. “Not exactly. When Nat was pregnant with Marcus, she wanted to do some of those prenatal yoga class things and I went. Mostly just weird breathing.”

“Hey pop,” Rio said, tone changing, “what’s up?”

Beth turned to see Marcus actually running back towards them.

“Nothing,” Marcus said, pushing at Rio’s leg until he was able to climb up onto the bench and sit between them. “Are your kids with their dad?”

“Yup,” Beth answered. “But your dad and I were just talking about having a little get together so that you can meet them and he can meet the rest of my family.”

“A party?”

“Not quite,” Beth tempered his excitement. “But it will be fun. I’ll make some brownies.”

“Do you have a big family?” Marcus asked.

Beth shook her head. “I have my sister, Annie, and her son, Sadie. And then there’s Ruby, who has been my best friend for long enough that she’s my sister too, and her kids - Sara and Harry. Her husband, Stan, probably won’t be able to come. He’s pretty busy.”

“Is he a businessman?” Marcus kicked his feet back and forth.

“He’s a police officer,” Beth replied.

Marcus’ eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yup.”

“Does he wear the uniform and everything?” Marcus wanted to know. “Has he ever arrested anybody?”

A glance up at Rio revealed that he was finding this amusing.

“Yes,” Beth said, “he has. A few people, I think. He wears his uniform at work, so I don’t see him in it very often.”

Marcus had other questions, which Beth answered to the best of her ability as Rio watched them chat.

“I think you’re tiring Miss Elizabeth out,” Rio told Marcus after a while.

Beth laughed, shaking her head. “You’re not, although you’re exhausting my knowledge of police work. It’s not something that I know a lot about.”

“I want to be a police officer,” Marcus said in explanation. Beth looked at Rio, who shrugged. “Because they get to drive around and they have dogs.”

“I think there’s more to it than that, pop.”

Marcus shrugged. “I want to be one of the ones with a dog.”

“Well, I don’t have a police dog, but I do have Buddy,” Beth commented.

Rio snorted, drawing Marcus’ attention to him. “Buddy’s nothing like a police dog,” Rio said. “I’m pretty sure he’d open the door to thieves if he knew how.”

Marcus giggled. “Really?” he asked Beth.

“Buddy is pretty friendly. His name was - is - actually Rex, but Kenny always called him Buddy, so after a while, that just turned into his name,” Beth said. 

“Can I meet Buddy when I come to your house?” Marcus leaned back against Rio’s side.

“Of course,” Beth promised. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to meet you.”

————————

For all that Rio had invited her over for stress relief, he was the one doing a whole lot of the work. Beth covered her mouth with her palm to stop herself from shrieking as he buried his tongue inside of her and moaned.

“You taste good,” he said when he pulled away long enough to adjust the angle of his head.

Saying that she had never met a man as obsessed with going down on her as Rio was wouldn’t mean much, considering the only other man she’d been with was Dean. But neither Annie or Ruby had mentioned this…this fixation with any of their partners.

Rio though? Rio seemed to love it. Whenever he rose up from between her legs, he’d have a smug look on his face. Much like the one that he probably had now.

“Rio,” Beth moaned, “Rio, it’s too much.”

His eyes flicked up to hers and he retreated slightly, but it was to circle his tongue around her clit, not to give her a break. Two of his thick fingers spread her open. He didn’t tease, just sank them all the way in and started to crook his fingers and rub them.

Beth squeaked, reaching out to grab onto him, but he just snatched her hand out of midair with his free one and twined their fingers together. She squeezed his hand tightly, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“Oh god,” she cried out as Rio’s fingers hit something that made her squirm. “Oh!” Her mouth fell open and she half lifted herself up before Rio’s hand, still joined with hers, pushed her back down as he latched onto her clit.

His fingers were making her legs twitch as they tried to clamp shut.

“That’s it,” he lifted his mouth long enough to murmur. “That’s it, sweetheart.”

She wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying to tell her, but the sensation between her legs was taking over, crashing in time with the movements of Rio’s fingers.

Beth cried out, unable to smother the noise. She was just barely aware of Rio continuing to stroke her, murmuring something she couldn’t make out as she fell off whatever ledge he’d dragged her onto.

It spread through her like wildfire and all she could do was ride the sensation until she slowly regained control of her body. She stared up at the ceiling, panting, then lifted her head to see a smug looking Rio and -

Beth stared at the sheets in horror. Rio just scissored his fingers, making her sob.

“Never squirted before, huh?” he asked.

She shook her head, incapable of speech.

“It was hot as fuck. Think you can go again?”

She groaned. “Gonna kill me.”

He laughed softly, then bit the inside of her thigh. He was gentle when he pulled his fingers out.

“I’m serious though,” he said, “think you can go again? I wanna fuck you.”

Beth shivered, letting her head fall to the side as she panted. Rio crawled up her body, but settled in beside her, kissing her shoulder once, twice, three times.

“Just be gentle,” she told him, reaching out to tug him in her direction. “I’m sensitive.”

Rio chuckled as he settled back between her legs. “You’re always sensitive. Why you think you come like a fucking fireworks show every time?”

If Beth’s cheeks could have gone redder, they would have. “That’s you,” she said. “Don’t get a big head about it.”

His head came down until his mouth was hovering over hers. “You like my big head.” He ran the head of his cock up and down her wet slit, then sank in slowly.

Beth hissed as he came into contact with her sore and sensitive muscles.

“Oh god,” she moaned.

His cock spread her open as he kept going deeper and deeper until he was all the way in. Beth squirmed her hips, looking for some relief.

“There we go,” he murmured to her, grabbing her leg and pressing it open a little further as he worked himself in and out.

Beth gripped the sheets and whimpered. When his hand went for her clit, she shoved it away. “No, it’s too much.”

“Come on,” Rio coaxed, “it’ll feel good.”

She shook her head. “Too much.”

He kissed her softly as he slowed his thrusts. “Alright.”

“You need to come,” Beth told him.

He grinned. “Not gonna be a problem.”

She squeezed around him as much as she could, drawing a low grunt from his throat.

Beth reached up for him, getting her hands on his back. His muscles shifted under her hands as he thrust in and out. His skin was warm, hot even. She moaned, lifting her chest to brush against his.

His eyes were practically black as he stared into hers. He bent a little further down to press their mouths together. He kissed her through his orgasm, his hands burrowing into her hair as he came inside of her.

Rio slumped slightly against her, slowly gentling the kiss. Beth stroked her fingertips back and forth over his spine.

When he finally pulled his mouth away from hers, he stayed close, running the tip of his nose over her cheekbone, along her ear. It took them a little while to untangle from one another, but they were on a timeline. He had to pick up Marcus from Scouts.

“I’ll start the laundry,” she told him, her cheeks burning.

Rio chuckled as he got up. “What if I don’t want you to?”

“Rio!” Beth hissed. “Your son lives with you. You can’t just -“ she waved her hand at the sheets.

“Could keep them as a souvenir,” he drawled as he started to get dressed. Beth made a face. “I’m saying I can do my own laundry,” he said with a sigh as he came back to the bed and bent to kiss the frown off her mouth.

“Yeah and I’m saying that I can get them started so you’re not late picking Marcus up.”

Rio straightened up, glancing at the clock. “I don’t need to leave for a few minutes.”

“You’ll be cutting it close if you wait,” she said. “I’ll toss them in the wash and if you show me where your spares are, I’ll make the bed and go.”

He looked at her, eyes roaming over her face, then he nodded once. “Alright, Elizabeth.”

Beth started to strip the bed.

“But you don’t need to make the bed,” he told her. “Marcus likes helping.”

She stopped moving around and turned to stare.

“He likes shaking the sheet out mostly,” Rio said with a laugh. “Reminds him of that parachute thing at school.”

“Okay, I’ll get the laundry started and leave the bed for you to make,” Beth said. “Any special instructions?”

He shook his head. “Laundry detergent is on the shelf above the washer. Figure you know how to work one.”

“I do,” Beth assured him. “I’ve been around a few of them in my time.”

Rio kissed her after pulling his shirt on. “Door locks behind you.”

“I remember.”

He nodded. “Call me when you know what day you want me and Marcus to come by.”

“Will do,” Beth promised.

With one more kiss, he grabbed his jacket, car keys, and headed out.

It took a few minutes for her to strip all the sheets and get them into the washer. She shouldn’t have been surprised that it was a top of the line model, but it still gave her a bit of a shock. It was quiet as it started and Beth nearly turned green with envy. The washer back at the house had been making a clanking noise for months, even after she’d had a plumber look at it.

She finished getting dressed and after checking the loft one last time, she left.

————————

“You’re finally gonna let us meet your boyfriend?” Ruby asked after a sip of wine.

Beth nodded.

“For real?” Ruby’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t a fake out?”

“No!” Beth threw up her hands. “I haven’t been keeping him secret or anything. I just wanted to get to know him better first. And for him to meet the kids.”

“He’s got one too, right?” Annie had drained her own glass and was now squinting at the bottle, probably trying to decide if she wanted another.

“Marcus,” Beth replied. “Who has lots of questions about Stan’s job.”

Annie coughed. “Really?”

Beth glared at her.

“She already told me,” Ruby said.

Beth whipped her head around. “What?”

“About Rio’s business.” Ruby raised an eyebrow as she stared Beth down. “Don’t get mad at her,” she said. “You should have been the one to tell me.”

Beth flushed. She should have. But she’d been putting it off in fear of confrontation.

“I didn’t say anything to Stan.” Ruby’s lips thinned into a line. “But if one day they meet and Stan goes, “Oh, that’s the godfather of Detroit, you’re going to get it from both of us.” Ruby warned. “For now, I’m trusting your judgement. At least long enough to let him around my kids so I can get a good look at him.”

“Can we watch Housewives now?” Annie demanded. “I’ve got an opening shift tomorrow and I already want to die.”

It was after Annie left and Ruby was helping Beth clean up that the topic of Rio came up again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ruby asked as she deposited their wine glasses on the counter.

“Stan’s a cop, Ruby.”

“And I’m not Stan,” Ruby responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I didn’t want to - don’t want to,” Beth amended, “put you in an awkward position.”

Ruby nodded. “Are you sure it’s not because you thought I’d tell you to run away as fast as you can?” she asked.

Beth shrugged, rinsing the glasses. “Maybe that contributed.”

“I’ve met some of the guys that Stan works with,” Ruby said carefully, “and the longer that I know some of them, the less sure I am that what Stan does is a good thing.”

“What do you mean?” Beth shut off the water and turned, resting her hip against the counter.

“Some of them are just in it for the power trip. Some of them are just lazy or they’ve got vendettas,” Ruby explained. “There’s good ones like Stan, sure, but some of the stuff that they do…” she trailed off. “Has Rio ever hurt you?”

Beth shook her head. “And I’m not worried that he’s going to either. We talked about it - setting boundaries. He’s made it clear that he’s going to keep me out of it until it’s absolutely necessary that I know something.”

“Good,” Ruby said. “You’re my best friend, Beth. I want you to be happy and I want you to be safe. If he can give you that,” she shrugged, “then I can ignore a hell of a lot more than I should be comfortable with.” She laughed and uncrossed her arms, pulling Beth into a hug.

As Beth sank into the embrace, she felt a weight that she’d been pretending didn’t exist lift from her shoulders.

————————

Rio went around the side of Beth’s house to the backyard. The first person he saw was Beth, who didn’t notice his arrival, caught up in a conversation with a woman that must have been Ruby. It was her friend that noticed him first.

“Can I go play?” Marcus asked, tugging at his hand.

“In a minute, pop. Gotta say hi to our hostess first,” Rio reminded him.

Ruby’s reaction had prompted Beth to turn her head towards them and smile.

“Hi guys!” She waved.

Marcus’ hand tightened on Rio’s as they approached Beth and her friend. “Hi,” he said, retreating a little bit.

“Hi Marcus,” Beth greeted him. “This is my friend, Ruby. Ruby, this is Marcus.”

Ruby smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Marcus. Although I imagine that you’re mostly just excited to go play with the others.” Marcus nodded. “My son, Harry, is looking forward to meeting you. I think he’s hoping that you’ll play Batman with him.”

“I like Batman,” Marcus said.

“You can go play,” Rio told him, giving him a little nudge.

He didn’t need any more prompting, just ran off towards the other kids at the other end of the yard.

“I was going to introduce him,” Beth frowned.

Rio watched as Marcus started to introduce himself to the group of kids. “Yeah, he’s good,” he drawled. “He just gets a bit shy around adults."

Beth nodded. “Well in that case, Ruby, this is Rio. Rio, this is Ruby.”

Rio held out his hand and shook Ruby’s when she offered it.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, being mostly honest. Beth talked about Ruby a lot, just as much as she did her sister. “Elizabeth has all kinds of stories about her getting up to no good and you pulling her out of them.”

Ruby smiled and Rio could immediately understand how the two of them had maintained such a lasting friendship. She had the same warmth as Beth. “Well, she’s played the good one plenty of times. We trade off.”

Rio laughed, looked at Beth. “I dunno about that,” he said, “she’s got a habit of jumping into things.”

“Don’t I know it,” Ruby muttered, then brightened. “Hey Annie!”

He looked over his shoulder and saw Beth’s younger sister coming out through the kitchen door. He knew that she had a kid, but she was alone.

Her hands were shoved into her pockets as she walked over, though she pulled out her right hand to shake Rio’s. “You must be Rio,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously.

“You must be Annie,” he responded.

“Guilty as charged,” she replied, putting her hand back in her pocket.

“Sadie couldn’t come?” Beth gave her sister a hug.

Annie shook her head. “He’s got a chemistry project, so he’s been at a friend’s place all day. Not like I’d be much help.”

Ruby laughed as she hugged Annie next. “You know, I remember you actually being pretty good in chem until they asked you to stop taking it.”

Rio looked to Beth for an explanation.

“She was good at it, but her particular talent was mixing things together that aren’t supposed to go together,” Beth told him. “So they asked her to please take bio instead.”

“Yeah, and then passed out right onto Stacey Greenwood when we were doing dissections. Which led me to the nurse’s office, which led me to getting a blood test, which informed me that I was pregnant,” Annie said. “And Stacey got one of her teeth knocked out when she hit the floor.”

“I forgot about that part,” Ruby said. “Damn. Where’s she at these days?”

“She moved to Australia,” Annie informed them. “I’m pretty sure she’s in a cult.”

Rio had slipped his arm around Beth’s waist as Annie told her story, setting his hand on her lower back. “That true?” he said under his breath.

Beth tilted her head back. “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you but I have the alarming feeling that it is.” She shook her head. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“I can get it,” he told her, sliding his hand down and stepping away. “Should I bring anything else out?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a beer,” Annie said. The others shook their heads.

He went to the kitchen and grabbed two beers, popping the caps off both and dropping them into the recycling. When he came back out, the kids had stopped whatever they were doing and were swarming the patio table.

“I uncovered the snacks,” Beth said when she saw the look on his face.

“Feeding frenzy, huh?” He handed Annie her beer and took a sip of his. “I suppose if I want to keep my hands, I should wait until they’re done.”

“Probably smart,” Ruby agreed. “Harry, don’t lick your sister!”

Beth laughed softly. “Should have told them to line up,” she said.

Marcus slipped out of the scrum with a little blue plate piled high with sweets. Before Rio could tell him there was no way in hell he was eating all of that, he made his way to Rio, carefully balancing the plate.

“I got you some too,” he held up the plate. “There were brownies.”

Rio grinned. “Thanks pop. How about we sit down while we eat that?”

Marcus looked over at the picnic table, then back up at Rio.

“Go on,” Beth shooed them away, “we’ll join you in a minute.”

They took a seat at the picnic table, quickly joined by the other kids. Beth, Annie, and Ruby came over more slowly, chatting as they walked. They were close - something that Rio had known from the way that Beth talked about them, but it was still interesting to watch.

Once they were all sitting, Marcus grabbed a brownie and practically inhaled it.

“Hey,” Rio ruffled his hair, “slow down a little. I don’t wanna have to give you the Heimlich.”

“What’s a Heimlich?” Jane asked, going up on her knees so that she can lean towards him. Beth tugged her back down.

Emma answered. “It’s when someone is choking on something and you have to squeeze them until the thing comes out and they can breathe again. Like in the movies.”

“Ohhhh,” Jane nodded.

“Jane,” Beth scolded, “sit down please.”

Marcus, who had been starting to hover as well, dropped back down onto the bench. Rio took the chance to grab a cookie from the plate that Marcus had made up, apparently for them. Based on the brief glare though, he’d been planning to eat most of it himself.

Rio looked at him and Marcus sighed, his glare fading. He pushed the plate towards Rio.

“Thanks pop,” Rio said.

The conversation stayed light as they snacked, moving through what the kids were doing at school and what they were watching during their TV time.

After a few minutes, Beth’s head turned towards the house. “Is that the phone?” Rio turned his head as well, then nodded. “Shoot,” she muttered, hopping up to try to make it in time to pick up.

Jane giggled. “Mommy almost said a bad word.”

Rio looked at her and fought a smile at her amusement. “Yeah, but she didn’t,” he reminded her.

“Sometimes Dad says a bad word,” Marcus shared, “and then he tells me that I gotta do what he says and not what he does. Even though it isn’t fair.”

“When my mom swears,” Harry said, “she says she’s gonna put more money in the bin at church.”

Ruby sighed. “Thank you for sharing that, Harry.”

“You’re welcome,” Harry replied.

At that moment, some combination of movements jostled the table and Rio found himself reaching out to grab a falling glass of juice before it could hit the ground. He caught it, but the juice itself had already spilled - most of it on his arm. He set the glass on the table.

“I’ll be back,” he said as he got up. “Behave yourself, yeah?” he pointed to Marcus, who nodded.

He ducked into the hall bathroom and washed his arm, glad he hadn’t been wearing something that could have been ruined. He patted his arm dry and went down the hall towards the sound of Beth’s voice.

“Right,” she said, sounding frustrated. “I’ll see you then.” She hung up and he heard her sigh.

Rio slipped into Beth’s bedroom, delighting in her soft shriek when she turned and saw him.

“Rio!” She hissed.

He just kissed her, not wanting to waste any time.

“This new?” he asked, tugging at the skirt of her purple and pink dress, eyes glued to where her breasts were threatening to escape.

Beth’s cheeks were red as she adjusted it. “Yes. It was Annie’s idea.”

“Remind me to thank your sister,” Rio murmured, kissing her again as he rubbed his thumb up and down in between her breasts. “Or murder her,” he added. “I want to fuck you so bad.”

He felt her shiver. “We can’t.”

“I know that,” Rio said, running the tip of his nose along her cheekbone. “I want to take my time. Wear it next time we go out, yeah?”

“Rio,” Beth sighed, the hands that been shoving him away tightening in his shirt.

Aware of the people outside of the room and how Beth would hate to feel exposed around them, he kissed her chin and took a step back.

“Don’t take too long, sweetheart,” he warned, then left the bedroom.

—————

Beth fanned herself. He kept _doing_ that - teasing her, getting her going, and then walking off. Swallowing, she shook it off and finished tidying up.

When she returned to the backyard, the kids had fled the table while Ruby and Annie remained. Rio had apparently been recruited into playing soccer.

She sat at the picnic table and picked up a cookie, broke off a piece, and ate it.

“Anything happen while I was gone?” Beth asked.

Ruby gave her a look over the tops of her sunglasses. “Nothing other than your boy disappearing for a hot minute. But you wouldn’t know about that, would you?”

Beth tried to fight her blush, but it wasn’t successful.

“No clue.”

“Uh huh,” Annie said, not buying it. “If you say so, Elizabeth.”

Ruby giggled. “Does he always say your name like that? Elizabeth,” she said with a faux deep voice.

“Yes, he calls me Elizabeth.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about that, although that’s interesting too,” Ruby laughed. “I’m talking about the _way_ he says it. All low and hoarse like that.”

He did always say her name like that. But she wasn’t about to admit that.

“He’s even hotter in person,” Annie said.

Ruby lifted her glass of wine. “I’ll drink to that.”

They clinked glasses with Beth, even though she didn’t lift hers, then took generous sips.

“He always that intense?” Ruby asked, not hiding her curiosity. Beth flushed, her mind immediately supplying the expression on his face in her bedroom earlier. “I’ll take that as a hell yes.”

Annie groaned. “It’s not fair,” she pouted. “How come you’ve spent decades being Little Miss Housewife and then manage to find the definition of Bad Boy, only he’s super sweet to you and seems like a good dad while I’m over here after a lifetime of fuckups with nothing to show for it but some god awful experiences with men?”

Ruby pointed her finger at Annie. “You just answered your own question.”

“Honestly, I’m just happy to watch him,” Annie said with a tilt of her head. Beth looked over her shoulder to see that Rio had hoisted Marcus and Harry under his arms and was kicking the ball across the makeshift field without breaking a sweat. Beth swallowed, familiar with what it felt like to have all that strength turned on her.

“Ey!” Rio cheered as he kicked the ball in, only to get tackled by Jane and Sara.

Beth looked away, turning her attention back to Annie and Ruby. “So what’s the news about the new doctor?”

—————————

“I think we’d better call it a game,” Rio told the kids as they started to flag, crashing from all the sweets and tired out from all the running around. “We’ve gotta get home soon.”

“Awww,” Jane sighed, latching onto his leg. “Can’t you stay for dinner?”

“Sorry,” Rio patted her back. “We’ve got a tradition.”

Jane squeezed his leg tighter, then let go. “Fine.”

He and Marcus said goodbye to the rest of the kids. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?” he said to Emma, who grinned and nodded. “Next time, you can show me what you’ve been doing with your new markers.”

One hand on Marcus’ shoulder, they made their way towards the patio table where Beth was sitting with Annie and Ruby.

“Me and pop are gonna head out,” Rio said, his hand on Marcus’ hair. “We’ve got dinner at my mom’s to get to.”

Beth got up. “I’ll pack up some leftovers for you to take home. Want to pick out the cookies, Marcus?”

His son immediately went to Beth’s side.

“I’m not gonna turn that down for the sake of being polite,” he said to her before she turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

“It was nice to meet you both,” he told Ruby and Annie. “Good to put faces to names.”

“It was nice to meet you too,” Ruby said, pushing her sunglasses up. “If you hurt that woman, I’ll make sure that you regret it for the very short remainder of your life. And my husband’s a police officer. He will 100% help me cover up a crime.”

Rio laughed. “Good.”

His response seemed to throw both of them.

“That she’s got people looking out for her,” he clarified. “She spends too much time trying to look after everyone else.”

Annie nodded, studying him a little longer. “She really does," she said. "She’s been mellowing out a bit though, so thanks for that, I guess.”

Ruby tried to cover her laugh behind her hand, but Rio heard it anyways. He had a pretty good idea of how they thought he was mellowing her out.

“I’d better go make sure she’s not giving him enough sugar to knock him into next week,” Rio said.

“Bye,” Ruby and Annie said at the same time. He returned the farewell and went into the kitchen where Beth was packing up multiple boxes of sweets.

“We’re not going on a three week journey,” Rio drawled as he approached. Beth flushed, but Marcus just grinned. “You leave some for everyone else?”

Marcus nodded. “Lots.”

Beth closed the lid of the last box.

“You need these back?” Rio tapped the container.

“No, they’re just reused,” she said. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

She did just that, saying goodbye to Marcus before Rio let him into the backseat, then kissed Rio quickly while Marcus was getting himself sorted out.

“Bye,” she said under her breath.

Rio smiled. “Bye.”

“Bye!” Marcus called, breaking them apart. Beth stepped back with a self-conscious laugh, but she stayed in place until he’d pulled out of the driveway.

He glanced at Marcus in the rearview mirror and saw his head sink down then jerk up a couple times.

“You tired?”

Marcus nodded, yawning.

“You like Elizabeth’s kids?” Rio asked.

“Yeah,” Marcus replied. “They’re fun. And loud.”

Rio grinned. “Yeah, they’re pretty loud.”

“But it’s really fun to have a backyard,” Marcus went on. “They can go out and play and run.”

Rio had started thinking about moving them somewhere else ages ago, but the convenience of a multi-unit building was hard to deny. Didn’t hurt that Cisco’s sister and her girlfriend lived down the hall and were usually willing to look after Marcus. “You think you’d be okay to spend more time with them?”

He watched Marcus nod. “I like Miss Beth,” Marcus said, looking out the window. “You smile at her a lot.”

“I do?”

Marcus nodded again. “And when you’re on the phone with her. And when you talk about her.”

Rio bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

“Like that!” Marcus shouted, pointing at him.

“Hey,” Rio said, “what did we say about yelling in the car?”

Marcus settled back down, but he looked pleased with himself as he watched Rio in the mirror.

“If you and Miss Beth get married, will I get to have two mommies?” he asked.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, pop,” Rio gently warned him, but Marcus had already started to nod off, so he left the question unanswered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by medievalraven and neveroffanon who remind me how to English. Chapter title from Carly Rae Jepsen's Automatically In Love.
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting! Working on my Brio fic is basically my reward for doing schoolwork at this point. If there is content that you think should be warned for, as always, feel free to let me know. (Side note: apparently squirting is not one that AO3 has.)


	8. Please take me to places, that nobody, nobody knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Turner makes an appearance in their lives. Beth shows Rio that she's in this.

Rio’s hand was warm in hers as they walked down the sidewalk towards the parking lot where they’d left his car. 

“You’re telling me that you liked that?” Beth asked, incredulous.

“Yeah,” Rio answered with a smile.

Beth made a face. “You have terrible taste in art.”

He laughed. “Art is subjective, sweetheart.”

“One of them was a blank canvas, Rio.”

“It wasn’t blank,” he started to explain, then stopped in his tracks. His smile disappeared and his face hardened as he stared at something ahead of them.

Beth followed his line of sight to see a man standing in their way. He was well dressed, in a suit and tie, and for a moment, Beth wondered if he was an associate of Rio’s.

“What a surprise,” the man said with a cold smile.

“Agent Turner.”

Beth looked at Rio, then back at the man.

“I’m pretty sure that you’re legally obligated to be a whole lot farther away than you are,” Rio drawled, letting go of Beth’s hand to move his to her back.

“Mr. Marquez,” the man - Agent Turner - said. “I was wondering who the delightful woman in the surveillance photos was. Mrs. Boland,” he held out a hand, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Beth looked at his hand and didn’t take it. Instead, she turned slightly towards Rio, making it clear who she was with. The man’s expression turned slightly sour.

“I think you should leave, Jimmy,” Rio said, “or I’m gonna have to call my lawyer. Again.”

Agent Turner jerked his head up. “I hope you know what kind of man you’re dating, Mrs. Boland. He’s dangerous. For you and your family.”

Beth swallowed. “I’m sure you think that,” she said. Rio’s hand tightened in her sweater. “But I’m pretty over the whole “men telling me what’s good for me” thing.”

“Well,” Agent Turner said, “I hope you’re lucky to live long enough to regret that.”

Rio made a noise in the back of his throat. “That a threat, Jimmy? Because I’m sure Gretchen would be happy to hear about that.”

The man nodded, jaw right. “Have a good day, Mrs. Boland. Remember what I said.” He turned and walked away, getting into a black car and driving off.

Rio’s jaw was tight.

“Who was that?” she asked him softly.

He seemed to jolt out of whatever headspace he’d been in. “FBI.”

Beth looked towards the car that the man was getting into. “The FBI?”

Rio nodded. She rubbed up and down his arm. “Let’s go,” she said. “Yours or mine?”

He considered. “You got any baked goods?”

Beth laughed. “Lemon bars.”

“Your place then,” he decided, keeping her close as they walked to his car.

The drive was quiet, but Rio let Beth take his hand and hold it as he drove.

Neither of them said anything as they got out of the car and Beth let them into the house.

“Gonna run screaming?” Rio muttered, undoing his jacket and hanging it next to hers on the hook.

Beth reached out and put her hand on his arm. He stopped moving. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Probably real to you now, huh? FBI and shit.”

“It’s been real the whole time,” Beth told him. He wasn’t looking at her, so she reached up until her fingers were on his cheek, exerting a slight pressure to bring his gaze to her. “Any other law enforcement agencies that I should be worried about?”

He blinked at her, then started to laugh. His head went back and when it came back down, he was shaking his head. “Should have known better than to guess how you were gonna react.” He was smiling as he bent down to kiss her. “Now, you promised me lemon bars. I’m gonna need one of those first.”

“Not gonna tell me that your body is a temple or something?” Beth’s fingers went to the top button of his shirt and started to undo it. “No refined sugars?”

“When they’re made by you?” Rio said, reaching up and taking her hand in both of his. “It’s worth it.”

——————————

“Rio?” Beth sat up in bed a few nights later, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. “That you?”

“Go back to bed,” he said, voice soft.

She half shut her eyes against the light coming from the bathroom, blinking as she adjusted. She was just in time to see the flash of blood on Rio’s cheek as he went in, shutting the door behind him.

She didn’t even hesitate, just got out of bed, grabbed a robe, and followed him.

The light still felt a little too bright, but she could see a cut high on Rio’s cheek, which was the source of the blood she’d glimpsed. He’d taken off his shirt, way more blood than would have come from his cut soaking the front. His knuckles were red with more of it.

“What happened?” she asked as she shut the door behind herself, moving to take over cleaning him up.

“Go back to bed, Elizabeth,” he tried to tell her, but she just shoved him towards the toilet until he sat and she could reach his cheek better.

Scowling, she dabbed at the blood. “Any broken bones?”

“No.”

She cleaned his cuts, then bandaged them up.

“Is that your blood on the shirt?” Beth asked, moving to his hands. First she wiped them, then inspected them for cuts. He was bruising, but the skin didn't seem broken.

“No.”

Beth nodded. “Alright. I’ll take care of it.”

“You can’t just throw it out,” he started to say, but Beth put her hand over his mouth.

“I know how to get blood out of a shirt, Rio,” she told him. He nodded.

“Just the shirt or the pants too?” Beth asked, taking the shirt.

“Just the shirt,” Rio said, moving to undo his jeans.

“I’ll take a look at those anyways,” she held out her hand, “just in case.”

He passed her the jeans as well and she turned to go to the laundry room.

Feeling far more awake than she had been, Beth left the bathroom and walked through the dark bedroom and hallway.

She got the shirt wet, then grabbed the hydrogen peroxide and dumped it on the blood. It started to fizz immediately. She gave it a minute, then started to scrub.

Rio came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her belly. She tensed for a second, then relaxed against him.

“You’re taking this well,” he said.

Beth turned her head to look at him. His lips were on her shoulder and he was watching her through his eyelashes.

“When I found out that Dean had been cheating on me, I took a sledgehammer to his desk,” she told him, scrubbing a little harder. “Destroyed most of the office. That’s how I found the mortgages. Plural.”

He worked his hand into the front of her robe and started to rub her skin slowly. Back and forth. Back and forth.

“It was the being kept in the dark that upset me the most as time went on. If he’d just mentioned something when the financial problems started, we could have worked through it together.” Beth shook her head. “But he hid it. Seemed to think that it was too much for me to handle. I can handle a lot, Rio. I can’t handle being lied to. And that includes lies of omission.”

He nodded.

“I’d rather wash your bloody shirts than get blindsided by them a year from now.”

“Okay.” He kissed her shoulder, tugging the shoulder of her robe aside so that he could drag his lips across her bare skin.

“I’m in this,” Beth said. He tilted his head so that he could look at her in the eyes.

She swallowed. That’s what this came down to, didn’t it? In or out. No half measures.

“You’re so goddamn beautiful,” he said, brushing her hair off the back of her neck. “So perfect for me.” He nipped between her shoulders.

Beth reached back to wrap her arm around Rio’s head. “I love you,” she breathed.

Rio froze at the words, but when she turned her head to look at him, he was smiling. Bending, he nuzzled her shoulder. "Yeah, you do,” he replied.

She bristled at that answer, but then his fingers started to move between her legs.

“You know how I feel?”

Beth’s lips twitched. “What, too macho to say it?”

Rio laughed and stopped stroking her to land a smack on her ass. Beth yelped and turned, only to be met with his mouth on hers. The kiss was soft, deep as he held her close with one hand on her ass while the other came up to cup one of her breasts.

“I love you too, baby,” he said when he pulled away. “I probably ain’t gonna be saying it to you every day, but I’ll show you. Yeah?”

Beth nodded.

She could live with that.

“Take me to bed?”

He nodded, rubbing his nose against hers.

After a beat, his hands slid down to meet at the small of her back and he tugged her close. “I can do that,” he said, voice gone husky. His lashes sank as he leaned in to kiss her. Beth returned the kiss enthusiastically.

Rio bent and when he straightened up, he took her with him. With a squeak, Beth wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on tight as he walked them back to the bedroom.

“You said to take you to bed.” His soft smile held a hint of mischief. “I’m doing that.”

“Didn’t mean that you had to carry me,” Beth told him as they entered the bedroom. He shrugged, a movement she felt more than saw with the dim light.

“Unwrap,” he patted her leg as he said it, “don’t wanna crush your legs.”

She unwrapped her legs but clung to him as best as she could. He dropped down onto the bed, sitting just on the edge.

“You kept the porch light on for me tonight,” Rio said. 

Beth nodded. “You mentioned you might come by.”

“Thanks.” He lifted one of his hands so that he could touch her chin. “Appreciate it.” He didn’t give her a chance to respond, just tilted her face where he wanted it and dove in.

He made quick work of the tie of her robe, pouting slightly when he saw that she was wearing underwear.

“I’m not sleeping naked,” Beth told him.

“We’ll work on that,” Rio said back, tugging her panties down.

Once she was bare, he worked his own underwear off one handed, using the other to trace her entrance slowly. Far too gently.

“Touch me,” Beth demanded.

“I am touching you,” Rio kissed the underside of her jaw, “Elizabeth.”

“Touch me for real,” she said.

He chuckled. “I am touching you for real. Can’t you feel me?” He applied slightly more pressure but still not enough. “You want more? Getting greedy?”

Beth dropped her head into his shoulder and nipped him there.

“Don’t be an ass,” she told him, reaching down between them to take his cock in hand. She stroked him, root to tip, a few times.

Rio answered that by sliding two fingers inside of her without warning. She should have been expecting it, but made her gasp.

“Like that?” Rio started to scissor his fingers. “Better?”

“Almost,” Beth said, squeezing him in her hand. “Want you. This.”

He chuckled. “My cock?”

Beth nodded.

“Say it and I’ll give it to you,” he said as he pulled his fingers free. “Tell me you want my cock, Elizabeth.”

Shuddering, she nodded. “I want your cock, Rio.”

“There’s my girl,” Rio purred, leading her by her hips to settle over his cock and then down onto it. “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?”

Beth moaned, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing their chests together. He bounced her slightly and her hands gripped him tightly.

Rio’s mouth opened against her collarbone as he helped her find a rhythm, panting into her skin and murmuring encouragement.

Beth ground herself against him, her eyes shutting at the feeling of him inside. His hands had moved to her back at some point and he was no longer lifting and dropping her, but was pressing her chest as close to his as he could. She shifted her legs to give herself a bit more leverage, enjoying Rio’s answering groan.

Her mouth fell open as her hands slid over Rio’s back before she curled her fingers and dug her nails in. Rio hissed in response, his fingers digging into her skin in response.

“Rio,” she panted, grinding herself back and forth on his length. One of his hands swept up her back to curl into her hair and tug lightly. He buried his face in her throat, opening his mouth to suck a mark onto her neck. She was tempted to shove him away, to complain about the mark, but it felt too good to make him stop.

He used the hand in her hair to pull her back until he could kiss down her chest. He got his mouth on her nipple, sucking and biting one before kissing across to the other.

She was close, but she needed pressure on her clit. Sliding her hand down her belly to rub herself, Rio growled. “No,” he said, snatching her hand away.

“Rio, please,” Beth whimpered. “I need -“

"You got what you need,” he insisted.

She squirmed on top of him. “Rio,” she tried again.

“Elizabeth,” he lifted his head from her breast as he moved their joined hands behind her back, “you have what you need.”

With a hiss, Beth scratched the hand on his back up over his shoulder and shoved at his chest. Whether it was because he was taken by surprise or because he let her do it, he fell onto his back. The hand not holding her hand behind her back to stop her from touching herself curved over her hip as he grinned up at her, all teeth.

“Keep going,” he told her. “You can do it, baby.”

Beth shuddered as she rode him. It felt so goddamn _good_. She picked up speed, moaning and fighting to keep her eyes open. Rio lay back, letting her take what she needed, but still not letting go of her hand. She had a feeling that if she tried to use her other hand, he’d take that one out of commission too.

“Please let me,” she started to beg, but Rio shook his head. She whimpered, squeezing around him as she tilted her hips to rub her clit against him as best as she could. The combination of sensations was almost enough to get her there.

“Almost there,” Rio said. “Can feel you. Come on, Elizabeth.”

Beth sobbed as she fucked herself onto Rio’s cock until she came.

He didn’t give her a chance to recover, just rolled them over and started to pound into her, the obscene sounds filling her ears as he filled her again and again and again. He was bent, face hovering over hers, staring at her.

She felt it when he started to come although he didn’t falter in his movements until she tightened around him and his eyes shut. He groaned, dropping his head beside hers on the bed as he ground his hips into Beth harshly. She grabbed his ass and held him close, feeling the muscles clench and unclench as he came inside of her. He started to pull away, but she wrapped her leg around his and tightened her grip.

Rio groaned, turning his head to the side so that he could kiss her ear. “I’m gonna crush you,” he said, voice broken.

Beth shook her head. “You aren’t that heavy,” she insisted. “I like it.”

He moved his face a little closer to hers so that he could nuzzle her neck. He put a little bit more weight on their joined hips, making Beth hiss. “Like that?”

“Yeah,” Beth sighed.

“I’m gonna have to pull out eventually,” he noted.

“I know.”

Rio sighed, but stayed there for a few minutes, softening inside of her. Eventually, she unhooked her leg from his and let him pull out. He kissed her on her jaw, chin, and lips before rolling off the bed and going to the bathroom.

He came back with a wet cloth and cleaned her up, kissing her shoulder and arms as he did.

Beth found herself already half asleep by the time he was finished and tossed the washcloth into the hamper. Rio curled against her.

“Go to sleep,” he demanded.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she mumbled back, elbowing him in the belly. He just laughed, a soft breath against her neck.

———————————

Rio drank his tea slowly, looking out the window at the backyard.

Elizabeth was still asleep. He’d tired her out, coming back to her house the night before. He had thought about going back to the loft, but he’d wanted to be near her. He hadn’t meant to wake her up, but then she’d stumbled into the bathroom and cleaned him up. Washed a man’s blood out of his clothes.

He smiled to himself. _I’d rather wash your bloody shirts than get blindsided by them year from now._

Rio felt a sense of deep satisfaction. He and Nat had never been easy. Too young and too alike in some ways, too different in others. She never would have done any of the things that Elizabeth had the night before, not that Rio would have expected her to. But fuck if it wasn’t nice having someone taking care of him sometimes.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

He turned his head to see Elizabeth come into the kitchen. “Morning,” he said, his voice a little scratchy. She walked into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He chuckled and lifted his free hand to rest on the back of her head. “You sleep okay?”

She hummed. “Once I got back to sleep, yeah.”

“Sorry for waking you,” he told her, twirling a strand of hair around his finger. “Was thinking we could go out for breakfast this morning.”

“Yeah?”

Rio took a sip of his coffee. “There’s a place by the loft that me and Marcus like.”

“Sounds nice,” she said, rubbing her face slightly against his chest.

Chuckling, he tilted his head to kiss the top of hers. “You ‘wake?”

“A little.”

“We’ll take a shower,” he told her, “and then we’ll go. No rush.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to neveroffanon and medievalraven for beta-ing this and to people for reading! Chapter title from Kehlani's Gangsta. If there is content that you think should be warned for, as always, feel free to let me know.


	9. Put your lips on my skin and you might ignite it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rio baits Dean. Beth starts to settle into the particular kind of domestic bliss that Rio offers.

The first time that Dean came to pick up the kids when Rio was there, Beth really should have expected trouble.

“So what are you up to this weekend?” Dean asked, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room.

“Uh, Rio’s coming over for dinner. Other than that, not much.”

Like uttering his name had summoned him, Rio came in through the kitchen door and, without sparing a glance for Dean, dropped a pharmacy bag on the counter and greeted Beth with a kiss.

“Hey baby,” he said when he pulled away.

Flustered, Beth patted his chest.

Dean made a noise. Rio smirked.

She looked over at her ex-husband to find him staring at the condom box peeking out of the shopping bag. She could read part of it from where she stood. XXL.

Beth didn’t think that she’d ever seen a box that big. Jesus, how many were in there? They’d really had that at the pharmacy?

Rio just stroked Beth’s hip and ass. “You need help with dinner? I’m hungry,” he said. “Oh, I picked up some of that chocolate mousse you like.”

Beth perked up at the mention of chocolate mousse. “You did?” She smiled up at him.

With a wicked grin, he bent down until his mouth was level with her ear. “I want to lick it off of you, baby.”

He gave her another kiss and then pulled away.

“Hey Deansy,” Rio said. Ever since he’d heard Annie’s nickname for Dean, he’d adopted it as his own.

“Only so many times I can pretend I don’t know his name,” he had grumbled.

Dean was still staring at the box.

“Was there anything else?” Beth asked with a politeness she didn’t feel.

He’d gone pale and when he looked up at Beth, his eyes were wide.

“If that’s all,” Beth said, “the kids should be ready.”

He left without a word.

The second that the door shut behind her ex-husband, Beth turned to face Rio. She opened her mouth to start lecturing him on…something, but he just grinned.

“I wasn’t kidding,” he kissed her, “I’m hungry.”

In case she hadn’t gotten the hint, he hoisted her up onto the countertop and dropped to his knees, wasting no time in shoving up her skirt. Beth’s anger dissipated, something she just knew he’d intended. Oh well. She could get mad at him later. When he wasn’t burying his head between her thighs and licking at her like a starved man, groaning like he was the one getting off.

She had every intention of being angry with him afterwards, but when she was riding him on a dining room chair seemed like a bad time. Then he was making dinner and doing the dishes and the next thing she knew she was waking up the next day without having said a thing.

“You have to stop doing that!” Beth hissed when he brought her coffee in bed.

“Doing what?” Rio had an innocent expression on his face, one that Beth didn’t trust for a moment. “Bringing you coffee in bed?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Rio, every time that we start to disagree about something, you just drag me to bed.”

“Do I?” He reclined against the head of the bed next to Beth.

“Yes,” she answered, sipping her coffee which, damn him, was prepared exactly the way that she liked it.

“So I shouldn’t have sex with you?” he asked.

Beth rolled her eyes.

“Conflict resolution,” Rio said, patting her thigh. “It’s a talent.”

She scowled. “That’s conflict avoidance, Rio.”

“Same thing,” he insisted.

“Is that how you always avoid conflict?” she asked, taking a longer sip now that she knew the coffee wasn’t too hot.

Rio sank down a little further. “Elizabeth,” he said sternly, “you don’t want me to deal with you the way I deal with business.” He reached up and brushed her chin.

“There are things that we need to talk about,” Beth said. “We can’t just avoid them forever.”

He groaned. “Do we gotta do it now?” He rolled over, burying his face against her chest.

Beth set her free hand on the back of his head and stroked against the grain of his hair. “No. But we can’t avoid conflict forever. There are things we’re going to have to discuss sooner or later.”

He nodded, not lifting his head, which had the side effect of rubbing his stubble against her breasts. “We’ll discuss ‘em eventually,” he said. “Make a list or something.” He laughed. “Set it up like one of them PTA meetings.”

“You want me to schedule our discussions?” Beth asked, incredulous.

“Yeah. Then I’ll know what I’m dealing with ahead of time,” he told her. “Can prepare my distraction techniques.”

She poked him in the belly, but one of his hands darted out and grabbed hers before she could withdraw it. Beth shrieked as she tilted. “You’re going to make me spill my coffee!”

Rio settled back down, holding onto her hand still. “What’s on the schedule today?”

“Laundry,” Beth started. “Grocery shopping.”

“Anything fun?” Rio asked, shifting his head so he could look up at her.

“Grocery shopping is fun,” Beth tried to insist, but he just shook his head.

“Real fun.” He didn’t sound like he believed her.

“What are you doing?” She turned the question back on him.

He grinned. “This afternoon I’m taking you out somewhere fun,” he said. “So get your errands done, mami. We’ve got plans.” He kissed the top of her head, then shifted to kiss her lips. “Get up.”

Hours later, after the laundry and grocery shopping, Rio made good on his promise, ushering her into his car and then driving them to an area she’d never been to before, ignoring her questions about where they were going until they pulled into a parking lot in front of a large complex.

She read the sign. “You’re serious.”

“I’m very serious,” he told her, tugging her towards the front door.

“This is fun?” Beth asked.

“You’ll like it,” Rio said. “And it’s a skill you should have.”

“Shooting,” Beth said.

“Yes,” Rio held the door open for her, “shooting.”

“Is this because of your,” she lowered her voice, “work?”

He smiled as he set his hand on her lower back and nudged her forwards. “It’s because you live alone and your ex is a jackass.”

“Are you implying that I should shoot my ex?”

“Ideally,” Rio muttered under his breath. She elbowed him in the belly, but he caught her arm.

Beth did not enjoy shooting as much as Rio had been implying that she would, but watching him demonstrate gun safety protocols, then efficiently taking a gun apart and putting it back together made her swallow back something that settled in her throat.

He seemed to recognize it too, playing it up the rest of the time. Pressing himself against her back to help her into position. Touching her belly. He kissed her ear after she shot the first clip.

“Good job,” he praised her, then led her through reloading. By the time they were done, Beth felt jittery.

Rio noticed, taking her hand in his to walk down the street away from the car.

“Where are we going?”

“We’ll get something to eat,” Rio said, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. He led her to a diner, where he slid into the booth right next to her instead of sitting across the table like a normal person.

When she said as much, he laughed.

“I’m not a normal person though, am I?” he whispered into her ear before pulling away to greet their server. “You’re horny as fuck right now, aren’t you?” he asked softly once they gave their drink orders.

Beth coughed. “Excuse me?”

He dropped his hand on top of her thigh and rubbed up and down, tracing the seam of her pants with his fingertips. “What was it that got you, I wonder?”

“Awfully presumptuous,” Beth said.

He hummed, nuzzling her ear. “Nah, I just know you. You’re twitchy. Saw you squirming on the way over. It help at all?”

Beth swallowed. It hadn’t, not really, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

“So what was it?” he asked. “You liked it, didn’t you? Using a gun.”

Beth didn’t say anything, just stopped breathing when his fingers settled over her cunt and rubbed through her jeans. Her legs twitched.

“You liked having that power,” he said, matter of fact. “Or maybe it was seeing me do it,” he suggested.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” she shot back.

He laughed as he took his hand away. “If you say so, sweetheart. You ready to order?”

She blinked at the change in topic only to realize that their server was on the way back. She hastily grabbed the menu and ran her eyes over it before deciding on soup and a salad. To her surprise, Rio ordered a waffle.

“Breakfast foods?”

He nodded and put his arm onto the back of the booth so that it was around her shoulder. “Can’t order that shit when Marcus is around. Gotta be the responsible one,” he explained.

Beth shook her head. “If you say so, sweetheart.” She squeezed his knee as she used the term of endearment.

When he drove her home, he didn’t turn off the car. “Can’t stay,” he said with a wicked expression. “You want me to come back later, let me know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Beth asked.

He gave her a quick up and down look. “You need help taking care of yourself, ‘Lizabeth, you know where to get it.” His voice was low, rough.

“I can do that myself,” she told him, opening the car door to get out.

He grabbed her hand. “Don’t I get a goodbye kiss?”

Rolling her eyes, Beth leaned across the car to kiss him quickly.

“I’ll be done sometime after dinner probably,” he said, using a hand on her chin to bring her in for a second kiss. “Call me, you want me to swing by.”

The promise in his voice made Beth shiver as she slid out of his car.

She was hoping that the feeling would disappear if she ignored it. She tidied up, took out the garbage, made the kids’ beds, but the flame that Rio had started when he took her to the shooting range was persistent.

What had done it, she wondered. She’d never thought of herself as someone who would be aroused by violence, but something about it all that had settled into her belly. Had it been Rio’s competence as he walked her through the steps, the way that his body had so clearly known what to do as he emptied the gun into the target before she took her turn? Had it been the feeling as she did it? The way that Rio had stepped up behind her to help her step into the right position?

Midway through the afternoon, Beth collapsed back onto her bed with a frustrated shout. Buddy, who had been following her, whined.

“I’m fine, Buddy,” she muttered.

Buddy watched her for a few more minutes, but knew that he wasn’t allowed on the bed, so he left with a sigh after a few minutes of watching her lie there.

Beth covered her face with her hands.

“You jerk,” she muttered. Rio had known what he was doing to her and then he’d just -

Gone to work, she reminded herself. Which she had known he was going to do.

She rolled to her side and pushed herself up to shut the door. The last thing she needed was Buddy wandering back in. She wiggled her pants down, then slid back into bed, still in her shirt and underwear.

Rubbing her fingertip up and down her cunt through her underwear, Beth sighed. Once she was ready, she slid her hand inside her panties to slide her middle finger inside of herself. It felt nice. Keeping it in place, she lifted her hips against it and started to work herself on it.

It was starting to get good when her phone buzzed. Beth groaned, but knew she had to at least check, in case it was the kids.

She grabbed it as she took her finger out. The caller ID said Dean.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded the second that she answered.

It turned out that nothing was wrong, Dean had just forgotten to pick up ketchup and Emma was picky about brand, but couldn’t or wouldn’t tell him which one she liked.

She wrapped up the call and tossed the phone aside, only to immediately snatch it back up and text Rio back. This was his fault after all.

_Come over._

He didn’t answer the text, but he showed up a few hours later looking smug.

“You touch yourself?” Rio asked as he took off his jacket, eyes on her the whole time.

“I was taking care of it myself,” she told him, “but I got interrupted.”

“Oh?” He came into the dining room and immediately lifted her onto the table.

“Yeah, Dean called.”

His expression darkened.

“I stopped to answer in case it was about the kids.”

“Was it?” He reached up the skirt of her loose dress to snag her panties and tug them down.

Beth shrugged. “Tangentially.”

“He know what you were doing?”

Beth looked at him in confusion.

“The way your voice goes all breathy when you’re getting off. He recognize it, know what you’d been up to?” He took a seat at the head of the table and pulled Beth towards him.

“No,” Beth answered.

“Yeah, ‘spect he wouldn’t,” Rio replied, lowering his head to lick the crease of her thigh. “You finish after?”

“No.”

Rio hummed. “So you been squirming all evening,” he said, nuzzling a little closer to where she wanted him to be very, very badly.

Beth shifted her hips slightly before Rio clamped his hands around them to keep her in place. “Yeah.”

“Poor Elizabeth,” he said, using his nose to trace up and down her entrance. A second later, he repeated the action with his tongue.

She’d had a _rule_ about not doing this in public spaces of the house but as Rio ate her out as she lay atop the table, Beth couldn’t find a single part of her that wanted to protest.

It felt like he was massaging out an ache that she’d become so used to that she’d started to ignore it. Gasping, she fought to keep her legs parted. If he knew about her struggle, he didn’t care, just keep teasing her orgasm out with his lips, and tongue, and fingers, and - Beth moaned as he scraped his teeth over her clit.

Suddenly, she knew what she wanted. Reaching down, she shoved at his head. He fought against it for a beat, sucking on her folds. “Rio, no,” she said.

He pulled back. “What?” He kept moving his fingers, sliding two inside of her to keep up what his mouth had started.

“Want you,” she said. “Now.”

“Yeah?” His voice was rough and she was worried that he would tease, but he stood up and undid his pants even as he said it. “I bet you do, sweetheart. Undo your dress for me.”

Beth knew he meant a very specific part of her dress, but there was no way to open the chest of it to get it out of the way, so she grabbed the hem and shimmied it up and off.

“Or that,” he said, setting the head of his cock against her. Beth was already moving onto her bra, though her fingers fumbled with the clasp when he sank into her.

“Oh,” Beth moaned, trying again. This time, she got it undone and pushed out of the way.

The slap of his skin against hers was accompanied by the clank of his belt buckle hitting the table. Wrapping a leg around him, she tried to push his jeans down with her foot. It didn’t really work, but it got Rio’s attention and he pushed them further down for her.

“Fuck me,” she demanded, trying to get closer to the edge of the table.

Rio grinned. “Thought that’s what I was doing.”

She shook her head. “Not what I want.”

He laughed and pulled out, making her whimper. “Turn over,” he demanded, already moving her where he wanted, bent over the table with her hips and ass sticking out.

Beth felt a shiver in her spine as his big hand stroked down the length of her spine while the other directed his cock inside of her. His foot settled outside of hers and nudged it inwards. As her thighs got closer together, the feeling of him got…more as he sank into her until she felt his pelvis make contact with her ass.

“Like that?” Rio asked.

Beth nodded.

His hum was low and heralded his withdrawal. Then he shoved back in and Beth moaned. He set a quick pace. “You think about me doing this?”

“And if I didn’t?” Beth retorted. She could hear how breathy she sounded, just like Rio had said earlier.

“Then I’m gonna want to know what you were thinking about, sweetheart,” he said, never stopping the motion of his hips.

Beth’s fingers tried to find purchase on the tabletop, but it was smooth wood and there was nothing to grab.

She set her palm on the wood and pushed herself part of the way up, but Rio’s hand swept back up to rest between her shoulders and push her back down.

“What were you thinking about, Elizabeth?” She was going to come without him touching her, Beth could feel it.

“You,” she gasped. “I was thinking about you, Rio.”

“Tell me,” he demanded, his one hand tightening on her hip.

“Earlier at the range,” Beth got out. “When you stood behind me and you -“

Rio cursed softly, “Fuck. It really did do it for you, huh, baby.”

Beth nodded, seconds away from coming on Rio’s cock.

He pushed her over and kept fucking her, even when she started to squirm at the overwhelming sensations.

“Rio,” she whimpered, slumping into the table.

Instead of picking up the pace, Rio pulled out. The sudden absence made Beth gasp and when she turned her head to look at him, she saw the relatively obscene image of Rio, still clothed with just his cock jutting out. He grinned at her, then pushed his jeans down and off before going for his shirt.

“I’m not done with you yet, Elizabeth,” he leaned down over her to say. “You’re not the only one that enjoyed this afternoon.” His left hand came down to settle on her ass, squeezing a couple of times before slipping his fingers between her legs. Beth’s hips moved away. It felt good. Too good.

She was half expecting him to finish right there, but he tugged her upright then picked her up in a bridal carry. Beth shrieked and grabbed onto his neck.

“Rio!”

“You walk too slow,” he said, like that explained anything. He carried her to the bedroom, dropping her beside the bed, facing him. 

“Rio!”

He shook his head. “I like the way you say my name when I’m inside of you better.”

Beth gaped at him as he nudged her onto the bed.

She didn’t regain the ability to speak until she was approaching her second orgasm and it wasn’t her last for the night. After what had to have been a third round, Beth had to push his head away from her breast.

“No, I’m broken,” she insisted.

Rio stopped trying to get his lips and tongue on her nipple, propping himself up on one arm to look down at her. “Nah, you’re not broken. You’re just plateauing. We keep going, you’ll get there again.”

Beth groaned. “I’m exhausted, Rio.”

“Good.” His hand came up to settle on her stomach. “I like tiring you out.”

“How are you still -“ she nodded towards his cock, which wasn’t hard, but she half expected that to change any second.

“Some of us have only came once tonight, Elizabeth.” He chuckled and dropped his head to kiss her. “Just because you came all those times, doesn’t mean I did,” he reminded her.

Beth glared at him. “Yeah, well you’re not getting near me with that again tonight.”

“No?” His exaggerated pout made her giggle. “Not even if I ask real nice?”

Beth looked up at him. “Oh fine,” she hissed, pushing him over onto his back.

“Don’t wanna pressure you into doing something you don’t want to,” Rio said as she wiggled down until she was straddling one of his muscular thighs.

Beth shook her head.

“You don’t want it?” he teased. He was going to make her say it - that she wanted him even after their enthusiastic sex. Even though he was already leaking out of her cunt onto his thigh as she took his cock, still soft, in her hand and stroked it root to tip.

“If I didn’t want it,” Beth said, desperate to retain some modicum of the upper hand in this scenario, “you’d know.”

In the end, she wound up riding his thigh as she jerked him off until Rio dragged her up his body.

“Wanna come in you again,” he said.

So he did.

————————————

Rio wasn’t there the next time that Dean picked up the kids, but he was back the time after. At first, Beth had considered that maybe she should can him from being present, but when Annie and Ruby heard about the condom incident, they’d laughed so hard that they’d cried.

“You are not allowed to ban him!” Annie had pointed an accusing finger at Beth. “This is better than Housewives.”

So there was no ban. Beth was starting to think that maybe she should have made one. Or set up some ground rules. Something.

“What are you doing?” Beth asked Rio, who was standing in the bathroom and rubbing what seemed to be baby oil on his chest and arms.

He looked up. “Can you get my back?”

Stepping into the room, she accepted the bottle of - she read the label, “Sun Tan Oil” - and poured some into her hands.

“Gonna explain what this is about?”

“Nope,” Rio said, cheerfully. She met his eye in the mirror.

“So it has nothing to do with the fact that the kids are being picked up soon?”

Rio laughed. “I’m mowing the lawn, Elizabeth. Didn’t you say it needed doing?”

Beth stopped rubbing the oil across his shoulders. “Really? This is childish, Rio.”

He looked over his shoulder. “Keep going.”

She pursed her lips, but decided to enjoy herself, getting oil in every groove of his muscles.

Rio chuckled after a moment. “Getting into it?”

“Shut up,” she muttered. “If you get a sunburn, I’m not going to feel any sympathy for you.”

“If you say so, sweetheart.” He turned around and reached for her, but Beth stepped back.

“Don’t you dare ruin my clothing, Rio,” she warned him.

Laughing, he wiped his hands on a towel and tossed it into the hamper. “Wouldn’t dream of it, baby.”

He walked past her on his way out of the bathroom and patted her ass as he did.

“Rio!” Beth hissed, but he just turned his head over his shoulder and grinned. She was pretty sure that the word incorrigible had been invented for him.

Rolling her eyes, she washed the oil from her hands and went to the kitchen to get started on dinner. She heard the mower turn on and the sounds of the kids getting ready for their weekend at Dean’s.

Jane came in to beg for a snack, Kenny couldn’t find his baseball glove. She gave Jane some blueberries, told Kenny to check on the closet floor, and got the lasagna into the oven.

The mower was still going when Dean knocked on the door. He didn’t come in. He was, thank god, finally learning. Beth went to the door and let him in.

“Kids, your dad is here! Come take your stuff to the car!”

She went back to the counter to keep cutting strawberries. “Emma’s going to need some help with her Social Studies homework, so you’ll need to supervise her,” she told Dean. “Jane’s all done hers, but she should go over her math test.”

Beth stopped to bend down and kiss each kid as they passed her on their way to the car.

“Bye!”

“Love you!”

“Be good for your dad.”

“See you Sunday.”

She tossed aside a stem into the pile for composting. “There’s a group project in Kenny’s class, so we’ll probably have to work out some kind of driving schedule for that,” she told Dean. “So make sure to let Kenny know when is okay for you.”

She hadn’t gotten used to how quietly Rio moved, so when he appeared out of nowhere to wrap himself around her and steal a berry, she jumped. She hadn’t even noticed the mower stop.

“Jesus,” she huffed, pressing her hips back against him.

He chuckled. “You coming to shower, baby? Got the water started.”

What was he talking about? She looked over her shoulder and saw bare chest, glistening with oil and sweat.. She blinked at him, then glanced down. He had apparently taken the time to take off his jeans and now he just had a towel wrapped around his waist. Thank god for that. Before she could say anything, he was reaching up to cup her breast. Beth dropped the paring knife onto the cutting board.

“Oh, hey Dean,” he said it so nonchalantly Beth knew that he had been fully aware of Dean’s presence. “Kids not ready yet? Need help getting them together?”

“They’re taking their stuff to the car.” Beth could hear a strangled quality to Dean’s voice and she was tempted to turn towards him, but Rio’s body had her pinned in place.

“They coming back in?” Rio asked.

Beth shook her said. “I already said bye.”

“In that case,” Rio drawled, squeezing her breast as he spoke, “I’m gonna say that you’ve cut more than enough strawberries for dessert, but it’s time for dinner.”

Beth thought about scolding him, but she heard Dean choke out a goodbye, meaning Rio had successfully chased him away.

“Bye Bean,” Rio said.

The kitchen door shut and Beth waited a minute before turning to glare at Rio. “Dinner’s not ready yet,” she told him, aware that she sounded snappish.

Rio nodded. “I’d better shower then,” he said, tracing her jawline. “Wanna come?”

Beth faced forwards again, tossing the last of the berries into the bowl.

“I’ll be waiting,” he said, kissing her earlobe and withdrawing.

She took the berries and put them in the fridge, then dumped the stems into the compost bucket.

Taking a breath and letting it out slowly, she turned and stomped towards the bathroom. She tossed her shirt, probably ruined, to the ground, then her bra, skirt, and panties.

“You oiled yourself up,” Beth said, joining Rio in the shower. “Really?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Did you see the look on his face?” He went on chuckling even as he soaped up a loofah and began to scrub his arms. “Sides, you helped.”

Beth snatched it from his hands and took over. She was trying to hide her smile. “It isn’t necessary. I think he gets the idea.”

Rio made a noise of disbelief. “Nah, I don’t think he does.”

“Just think,” Beth said, “if he hadn’t done all of the stuff he did, we wouldn’t be together.”

“That’s why I haven’t knocked the shit out of him,” Rio told her, gently tilting her face upwards so that he could lean down to kiss her. “But he gets to feel how he hurt you for a long, long time.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one to decide that?” Beth asked.

Rio shrugged. “You want me to stop?”

She swallowed. “I should.”

“Not what I asked, Elizabeth.”

She should. She really should. But she didn’t want him to. It did something to her, watching him flaunt their relationship in Dean’s face. In everyone’s face.

She also couldn’t admit that she didn’t want him to stop.

So, Beth lowered herself onto her knees in front of him and took his semi-hard cock into her mouth. Before long, she couldn’t fit much of it in, so she settled for stroking him and sucking the head, working her tongue under his foreskin, then dropping to mouth at the thick vein on the underside.

He came in her mouth with a strangled cry and let out a long groan when he watched her swallow.

“Fuck,” he cursed, pulling her up. “I’m gonna put a ring on your finger one day.”

She wiped her mouth with her hand. “Whatever you do, don’t do it in a moment like this,” she said, running her fingers up and down his ass.

“No proposing after you suck me off?” Rio teased, helping her up before tilting her head back and kissing her. “I’ll try to remember that.”

“It’s not a lot to ask,” Beth said primly, taking a washcloth and rubbing soap into it.

Rio laughed, taking the cloth from her hand. “I dunno,” he said. “Sounds like a lot to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd, as always, by the wonderful medievalraven and neveroffanon. Thank you to them and to everyone that reads and leaves kudos/comments. Chapter title is from Billie Eilish's Strange Addiction.
> 
> If there's content that should be warned for, please let me know.


	10. let me put on a show for you tiger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rio encounters Dean when Beth's not around. At odds with Annie, Beth gets comfort from Rio.

“Hey Marcus,” Beth welcomed him into the house as he darted by her, already on his way to join in on whatever her kids were up to.

“Hi Beth!” He stopped, backtracked, and hugged her.

Laughing, Beth nudged him away. “You can go play.”

Marcus looked a little sheepish when he pulled away, but at that moment, Danny stuck his head over the bannister at the top of the stairs to shout, “Hey, come on!”

Rio followed much more leisurely. “Hey,” he greeted her before tugging her close. “How are we today?”

“I,” she stressed the word, “am good.”

“Royal we, sweetheart,” Rio said, kissing her. “Feeling better?”

Beth had spent the last couple of days down with the flu. She hadn’t been the only one either - Jane and Danny had joined her in her misery.

“Tired, but alive.”

He smiled. “That’s good. Don’t want you to be dead.”

“Aww, thanks,” Beth teased. “So romantic.”

“How about this for romance,” he said, “we order in tonight?”

Beth laughed. “I already got started on dinner,” she told him.

“You need to take it easy,” Rio scolded, kissing her temple. “You’re still recovering.”

“And I am tired of eating food that is bland,” Beth replied. “I want solid food.”

He frowned, cupping her cheek. “You sure you can handle it?”

“Yes, Rio.” Beth didn’t hide her exasperation. “I have been taking care of myself for years, you know.”

“I know,” he responded, moving his hand to her forehead like he was checking for a fever. “Don’t want you to set yourself back though. I worry about you.”

Beth laughed. “I know. And I am very thankful. It’s sweet.”

“Sweet?” Rio’s head pulled back slightly. “You think I’m sweet?”

“Uh huh,” Beth mumbled, reaching up to hold onto his shirt. “For me.”

He considered that. “A’ight. Just you though.”

“And Marcus,” Beth added. “My kids. Your family -“

He hoisted her up without her even noticing him move, making her shriek and wrap her arms around his neck.

“Rio!”

Laughing, he walked them over to the stools and put her onto one.

“Mom?” Emma came into the kitchen. “What’s happening?”

Beth opened her mouth to answer, but Rio beat her to it. “Your mama is working too much even though she’s still getting better. I’m making sure she sits down.”

Emma smiled at that. “I told her we were okay with leftovers. Or pizza.”

“Bet you did,” Rio said with a grin. “She’s stubborn though.”

Emma nodded. “That’s what Auntie Ruby says too.”

“Your auntie is a smart woman,” Rio turns to look at Beth again, “and your mama needs to learn when to take it easy.” Beth set her lips in a firm line. “So how ‘bout it, Emma? You good to help me finish up dinner so your mama can rest?”

“Sure!” Emma replied. Rio put her to work getting serving plates and bowls, setting the table, summoning her siblings to start coming down.

Beth tried to get up a couple of times, but Rio just levelled her with a firm stare every time.

“You feeling energetic,” he said while Emma was setting the cutlery on the dining room table, “we can work that out later, yeah?” His voice was rough as he murmured into her ear. “I’m happy to help there too.”

Beth pressed her thighs together, but didn’t say anything, not even when Rio bit her earlobe.

Dinner was a bit more boisterous than it had been for the rest of the week now that everyone was feeling better, but Rio helped diffuse the slightly frantic energy of the kids.

He hadn’t been entirely wrong and Beth did feel tired, so she didn’t protest when he suggested he take the kids to the park.

“We’ll be back soon,” he told Beth, pulling his jacket on. “I’ll get ‘em to run that energy out, then they should crash when we come home.”

Beth laughed. Kenny had begged off to do homework, but upon realizing that Rio would help him with his math, he decided to tag along too.

“Take a bath or something. Relax.” He directed her face up towards his. “If I come home to find you cleaning or getting started on school lunches or whatever it is you were thinking of, I’m not gonna be happy.”

“No?” Beth asked.

“Uh uh.” Rio kissed her, lingering afterwards. “I’m serious, Elizabeth.”

“Okay!” Beth gave in. “Can I at least load the dishwasher?”

Rio considered it. “Fine, but no emptying it and putting stuff away.”

“Yes, sir,” Beth teased quietly so the kids wouldn’t head as they pulled on shoes and jackets.

Rio ducked his head to whisper in her ear, “Save that for later.”

Then they were gone.

Beth used the time to run the dishwasher, take a shower, call Ruby and then Annie.

The sky was almost dark when they came back in and to her relief, they were all exhausted. Even Kenny went off to bed early.

“What did you do to them?” Beth asked as she watched Kenny drag his feet up the stairs.

“We played soccer,” Rio answered, lifting her feet into his lap and covering them with a blanket. “Me vs. them.”

“And they’re the ones that are tired?” Beth shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”

He smiled, eyes shut. “Emma was on my team too.”

They lay on the couch for a while, but Beth was reluctant to fall asleep there and eventually got up to head to bed. Rio was behind her, turning off the lights and locking up before joining her.

She was in her pajamas already when he got there, although he shook his head before collapsing onto the bed. Yawning, Beth fell down beside him. “Don’t wanna brush my teeth,” she groaned.

“Elizabeth,” he said sternly, his voice taking on the same edge it had when Marcus was misbehaving. That thought disappeared when he reached over to cup her breast.

“Rio!” Beth pushed his hand away.

“What?” His eyes opened in an exaggerated innocence.

Beth glanced towards the door. “The kids aren’t even asleep yet,” she hissed.

He shrugged. “They’re almost there. Probably.”

She scowled at him, but he just grinned and dropped his hand onto her hip. She could feel the warmth of his hand through the flannel.

“What happened to me needing to recover?” she asked.

Rio rolled her onto her back. “You’re lying down,” he replied, tugging slightly at her top. “Counts as resting.”

She squeaked when he pulled her top down far enough that he bared one of her breasts. Grinning, he ducked his head to her nipple.

“You have a fixation,” she hissed.

Rio bit down lightly, then pulled up to work her top off all the way. “With these?” He squeezed her breast. “Yeah, I fucking do.”

Beth had to giggle as he rubbed his scruff against her chest, the rough hairs scratching against her sensitive skin. “Is this a Freudian thing?”

“What,” Rio kissed over the reddened skin, “like my mom didn’t love me enough? Or loved me too much?” He shook his head. “Nah. It’s a you thing.”

He tugged her pants off as well, tossing them aside. “You too tired?” he asked, bringing one of his hands up to his mouth and licking over the pads of his fingers, then dropping them to start stroking over her clit.

Beth sighed.

“I’ll do all the work,” he promised, circling his fingers.

“Okay,” Beth said. “You gotta take your clothes off too, though.”

Rio stopped touching her and rolled off the bed to start stripping. She watched with interest as he bared himself to her. It was still exciting, every time that she saw him.

“What?”

Beth blinked, tilting her head back to look at him. “What do you mean, what?” she asked.

“Why you looking at me like that?” He stroked his cock a couple of times before joining her again.

“Because you’re perfect,” she said, reaching out for him.

Rio wrinkled his nose. “Nah, that’s you. All soft and sweet.”

Beth ran her hands over his shoulders to his neck and up over his scalp. “You’re all muscled and strong,” she told him, running her nails up and down through his hair. “Hard,” she said with a grin.

He smiled back. “Hard, huh? You like that?”

She nodded.

“Maybe that means we’re perfect for each other,” Rio said, slipping a finger inside of her. “You want hard. I want soft.” He bent his head to nuzzle against her breast. “You’re not getting it hard tonight though,” he remarked. “You’re still recovering.”

“I can deal with that,” Beth said. “So long as it’s still you.”

“Oh, you’ll get me,” he said, pushing in a second finger and starting to stretch her for his cock. Whether it was his pace or how Beth hadn’t exactly been thinking about sex while she was sick, he quickly worked her to an orgasm that had her moaning and riding his hand.

Rio kissed her through it, pushing his cock in on the tail end and making her squirm.

He hadn’t been lying, he didn’t go hard. Instead, he stayed close to her, their chests brushing together as he thrust in and out of her. When Rio came, he dropped his head into the curve of her neck and shuddered through his orgasm.

Afterwards, he dragged her to the bathroom to clean up and brush her teeth. “You’ll regret it if you don’t,” he told her with a kiss on the top of her head that had her swatting his belly.

“No one likes a know-it-all, Rio,” Beth told him as she flossed.

He just laughed.

—————————————

A couple of days later, morning found Rio at the house again. He stretched out, wincing at the crack of his back. He needed to talk her into a bigger bed. A better mattress.

He kissed Beth’s temple and rolled out of bed. Her hair was all over the place, and she spread out into what he’d taken as his side of the bed. He laughed quietly, brushing her hair back from her cheek. Her skin was soft under his fingertips, and he wanted to drop back into bed beside her, but he had shit to do.

He scratched his belly as he went to his drawer in the dresser, snagging some clean clothes on his way into the shower. He winced at the shitty water pressure and made a mental note to see if he could get someone to look at it or if that was just a feature of the house.

She slept through his shower but wandered in while he was shaving.

“You’re up early,” she commented with a yawn. She reminded him of a small tiger or something. Ferocious and sleepy.

“Got appointments,” he told her, rinsing the razor and setting it aside.

She leaned against his chest, rubbing her face against him. He wrapped his arm around her.

“You gonna go back to bed?” He rubbed her back.

Beth shook her head. “No, gotta get the kids up for school.”

“That’s in another hour and a half,” Rio noted. “You can go back to bed.”

She shook her head again. “But if I get prep done now, then it’ll be easier once they’re up.”

“Go back to bed,” he patted her ass. She jumped a little, then sank back into him. “I’ll turn the coffee maker on for you. You can get out of bed in an hour. How about that?”

“Why are you being such a tyrant?” Beth grumbled.

“Being?” Rio laughed. “I’m always a tyrant, sweetheart. You’re just normally already doing what I want. C’mon, you need more sleep.”

“You saying I’m grumpy?” Beth tilted her head back to blink up at him.

Rio bent down to brush his lips over hers. “No, I’m saying you’re sleepy. You fell asleep watching TV last night.”

Beth frowned. “I did? Then how did I - did you carry me?”

He shook his head. “I woke you up enough that you walked here on your own. And then you somehow managed to floss, brush your teeth, wash your face, do all your lotions and shit while half asleep. It was impressive.”

Rio moved them out of the bathroom and gently nudged her onto the bed. She went without too much of a fuss.

He sped through his morning routine and was happy to see that she was still asleep when he was on his way out. In the kitchen, he set the coffee maker and grabbed an apple to eat on his way to meeting his boys at the diner.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Demon asked once Rio slid into the booth.

“Gotta do some pickups,” Rio answered. “You’re good to do the east?” he directed his question to Bullet, who nodded. “We’ll do west,” he told Demon.

“You coming with?” Demon seemed surprised.

Rio jerked his chin up, falling silent as Vida dropped off his breakfast. “Thanks,” he told her.

She just shook her head and patted his shoulder. “You’re too skinny,” she scolded on her way back to the counter.

Rio dug in as the others grumbled. “She’s like two years older than you, how come she’s treating you like a sweet little boy?” Bullet wanted to know, eyes flicking towards the woman.

Rio just grinned, making sure his dimples were in full view. “Whatchu talking about,” he deadpanned, “I am sweet.”

Cisco choked on his mouthful of coffee.

“More like she knows you’re taken,” Demon said.

Rio shrugged. “Maybe. And yeah, I’m coming with today. Doesn’t hurt to remind people I’m still around.”

Bullet scowled at his hash browns, but went back to eating as they ran over their business for the day.

It didn’t take long to finish, then they were going their separate ways. Demon followed Rio to his car and got in with a pointed look when he saw Beth’s spare pair of sunglasses that was in the cupholder.

“Shut up,” Rio mumbled.

“Did I say something?” Demon teased, putting them into the dashboard compartment. They kept conversation light as they drove around.

It was late morning when they got to the Portuguese bakery that Beth loved. Which also happened to pay him a decent cut of profits in exchange for him dealing with some issues they’d had a couple years back.

Pulling into the parking spot, Rio nodded to Demon, who opened his door to get out.

“Wait.”

Demon looked back, one leg already on the sidewalk.

“Get some assorted pastries, will you?” Rio asked.

“It matter what kind?” Demon asked with a smile. “Does Elizabeth have preferences?”

Rio shook his head. “Assorted is good.”

“Right.” Demon shut the door behind him and walked across the street to the bakery.

He rolled his window down and looked out at the quiet street, his eyes catching on a specific car. He narrowed his eyes and read the license plate. His gaze flicked to the different shops to guess which one Boland was in. His money was on the café, but the dry cleaner wasn’t out of the question either.

Whichever it was, Rio wasn’t one to turn down an opportunity to remind the man of exactly who was sharing Elizabeth’s bed and life these days, so he got out of the car.

Rio leaned against the side of his car, sunglasses down over his eyes.

Dean came out of the coffee shop, freezing when he caught sight of Rio. Then he puffed up his chest and crossed the street to approach.

“Are you following me?”

Rio lifted an eyebrow and tilted his head. “Could ask you the same thing.”

Dean looked a little confused. “What?”

Rio saw Demon leave the bakery next door, two boxes in his hands. One would be cash. The other was sweets.

“That’s the Portuguese bakery that Elizabeth likes,” Rio told Dean, nodding towards the shop. “Did you forget that?”

He obviously had, or maybe hadn’t even really known it in the first place.

Demon opened up the car door and put both of the boxes on the passenger seat, then shut the door and leaned against the car next to Rio.

“Are you trying to threaten me?” Dean asked, stepping away.

Rio laughed. “Threaten you?” He shook his head. “Am I being threatening?” he asked Demon, who snorted. Demon had seen Rio when he was being threatening.

“Look, Denny,” Rio stood up, “I don’t particularly give a shit about you or anything that you do outside of the fact that what you do affects Elizabeth. Just a word of advice,” he stepped towards Dean, “don’t fuck with Elizabeth.”

“Or what?”

Rio smiled. “I won’t take kindly to it. Run along now. Probably gotta get back to your little sorority house, don’t you?”

Dean at least had the good sense to know when he was beat, so he retreated to lick his wounds and probably call Elizabeth to complain.

“She was married to that guy?” Demon asked.

“For almost twenty fucking years,” Rio answered, opening the car door and getting in. “Every time I see him, I want to rearrange his face.”

“She’d kill you,” Demon said.

Rio pulled out of the parking spot. “Why do you think I haven’t done it?”

Demon chuckled. “She has you by the balls, huh?”

“Oh believe me,” Rio grinned, “when Elizabeth’s got her hands on my balls, I’m not fucking complaining.”

The other man kept laughing. “Think if you provoked him into it, she’d let you knock the shit out of him?”

“Maybe,” Rio shrugged. “Then she’d be pissed I got his blood on my shirt or something. She likes to find reasons to bitch me out.”

“Yeah, but you _like_ it,” Demon commented.

Rio didn’t deny that. It was Elizabeth’s way of showing that she cared. And if he got her riled up enough, she got downright wild in bed. Or the shower. The laundry room, against the washer. The backseat of his car.

Demon’s laughter broke him out of it. “Yeah, you like it. Now stop thinking that shit while I’m in the car. You’re starting to look downright fucking wistful.”

“Like you weren’t the same when you and Nia met,” Rio shot back. It felt good to razz his friend and he knew that Demon was doing it to help him expel some of his frustration with Dean. So when he dropped Demon off in front of his house, he stopped the man from getting out right away.

“Nia still on about taking a vacation?”

Demon nodded.

“Consider it your bonus this year,” Rio said. “No more than a week though.”

“Ten days,” Demon immediately started negotiating.

Laughing, Rio shook his head. “Fine, but that better include flights. Not ten days wherever you’re going.”

Demon winced. “Yeah, it’s not gonna be much of a vacation. She wants to visit her mom.”

Rio started laughing harder. “You’re in trouble now.”

“Every time she calls, it’s “When are you gonna start a family, Nia? Your body isn’t getting any younger!” And then Nia gets upset.” Demon scowled. “If I go down for a murder charge over there, I’m not even sorry. That woman will deserve it.”

He got out of the car then, ambling up to the house and leaving Rio to drive home. To Elizabeth’s. Shit, it was getting hard to keep that all straight in his head. He didn’t spend much time at the loft anymore. That thought kept his mind occupied on the drive over to her place.

He was right, Dean had called Elizabeth, but she had shut him down, so it wasn’t even necessary for Rio to leverage pastries for understanding. She just rolled her eyes as she told him the story and held out her hands for the box.

She bit into a cream filled one and moaned, a truly pornographic series of events that Rio watched with interest.

“Thank you,” she said, licking a stray bit of cream from her thumb.

Rio moved until he was standing in front of her and reached up, tucked her hair back. “You’re welcome, Elizabeth.” Then he bent down and kissed the taste of sugar and cream from her lips.

Before he could move things along, she pulled away. “No, I’m hungry.”

He laughed. “Oh yeah?”

“For this,” Beth held up her half eaten pastry, “not that,” she pointed at his groin. Rio kept laughing as he leaned towards her and took a bite before she could snatch it away. “Hey!”

“Just helping you finish,” Rio told her.

“I don’t need help,” she stepped away and shoved the rest of it in her mouth.

Rio went to the box and pulled out another one - this one chocolate. He made eye contact with Beth and ate the whole thing in one bite.

She narrowed her eyes at him and swallowed. “I like that one.”

Rio shrugged. Beth reached towards the box, but he grabbed it and lifted it out of her reach. He finished chewing and swallowed. “You want one?”

Elizabeth pressed herself against him, trying to grab the box. She wasn’t tall enough, so she was mostly just rubbing herself against Rio. He wasn’t going to complain.

“You ask me, real polite,” he teased her, “and I might be convinced to share.”

She lifted her chin, stubborn, and stepped back. “Maybe I don’t want any then.”

“That’s fine with me,” Rio said. “You’ll ruin your appetite for dinner anyways.”

“Oh, you think you’re staying for dinner?” She scowled at him. “I don’t think so mister.”

Rio wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her back against him. “Don’t be like that, Elizabeth.” He kissed her again before she could protest.

“Can I please have the box?” She stuck out her lower lip and batted her eyelashes at him.

He passed the box back to her. “All yours, mami.”

Beth stuck out her tongue, then promptly ate another pastry.

————————————

Annie looked at Beth, then let her sunglasses fall back down to her nose with a sigh.

“What?” Beth said with a self-conscious laugh.

Annie just scrunched up her face. “God, I hate you.”

“Why?” Beth poked at Annie.

Annie turned her head to Ruby. “She’s too happy.”

Ruby just sipped her frappuccino. “I’m not involved in this.”

“You’re too happy,” Annie said to Beth.

“What does that even mean?” Beth demanded.

Annie delayed for a minute as she hunted for a bobby pin to pull her hair back.

“Annie,” Beth warned.

“Alright!” Annie replied. “You’re just so ridiculously happy! It’s like getting some on the regular has watered your crops, cleared up your skin, all that jazz.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “It’s not just sex, Annie,” she reminded her sister. “We’re in a relationship.”

“Okay, so he gets you off emotionally too.”

Ruby coughed, pulling her straw out of her mouth.

Beth flushed.

“God, it’s like he’s boned the stress right out of you,” Annie commented, shaking her head. “It’s gross.”

“You’re just jealous,” Ruby cut in.

“Of course I’m jealous!” Annie said. “I’ve been on three dates in the last month, all of them sucked. One of them ended with me making out with my ex-husband!”

Beth and Ruby both froze. “What?!” they said, completely in sync. 

“You made out with Gregg?” Beth practically shrieked.

Annie nodded. “God, I’m an idiot.”

Beth had a feeling this conversation wasn’t going to go well and briefly wished that her coffee would transform into a bourbon.

She stayed quiet for a moment as Annie moaned and groaned. All she could think about was Nancy. Annie had mentioned that Nancy and Gregg were doing IVF and fuck, if he was cheating on Nancy while that was going on…

“Earth to Beth,” Annie snapped her fingers a couple of times. “Gonna chime in?”

Beth clenched her jaw. “I don’t think you want me to.” She took a sip of her coffee and pretended not to notice when Annie’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Annie, he’s married!” Beth snapped, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed her outburst.

Her sister shifted in her seat. “Well, in some faiths, there’s no such thing as divorce, so I guess he’s still married to me.”

Beth scoffed. “Don’t.”

“Guys, I -“ Ruby started to say, but Beth kept going.

“You’re going into this with your eyes wide open,” Beth said. “You know that he’s married. You know that you two don’t work well together. You know how much it hurts to find out that your spouse is cheating on you.”

“Oh, now you’re comparing him to Dean?” Annie looked disbelieving. “It was a kiss.”

“I’m sure that’s how it started for Dean too,” Beth said, gathering up her stuff. “Look, I can’t do this with you right now.”

“Bee,” Ruby reached out to touch her hand, “come on, sit down.”

Beth shook her head. “I can’t listen to this,” she said to Ruby. “I won’t listen to Annie talk about torpedoing her life, Gregg’s life, Nancy’s, Ben’s, like she can’t help it.” She turned her head to Annie. “You’re in control of your actions, Annie.”

“Oh fuck you,” Annie shot back.

“I’ll see you later,” Beth said, taking off without looking back.

——————————————————

Rio laughed. “She said what?”

“She said it’s like you boned the stress right out of me,” Beth repeated, huffing when he started to laugh harder.

“Is that true?” he asked. “Did I bone your stress away, honey?”

She shimmied across his chest so she could tilt her head back to stare at him. They’d been lying on Rio’s couch together, listening to some of his records as they chatted about their days.

“And it turns out that she made out with her ex-husband!” Beth went on. “Who is now married to a woman named Nancy. They’re going through IVF! God, it made me so mad.”

Rio’s face softened as he reached up to touch her cheek. “You thinking about your ex?”

Beth pressed her lips together, but nodded.

“You chew her out?” he guessed.

She nodded again.

“And now you’re both mad at each other?”

Nod.

Rio kissed her forehead. “Whatchu gonna do about it?”

Beth relaxed her neck so she wasn’t craning it to look at him anymore. “I don’t know.”

He hummed along with the music for a moment, thinking it over.

“You mad about her being the other woman or are you scared she’s gonna get hurt?”

Beth bit her lip. “Why do you have to do that?”

“Do what?” He brushed her hair back.

“Be so damn perceptive all the time,” she muttered.

Rio smiled at her, running his fingers over her lips. “It’s part of what I do, Elizabeth. If I couldn’t get inside other people’s heads, I wouldn’t have made it to where I am. Gotta be good at reading people.”

“Including me,” Beth said, stiffening slightly

“In some ways,” he replied. “But when I do it with other people, it’s ‘cuz I’m trying to get something. With you, it ain’t about that.”

“What’s it about then?”

Rio rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “It’s about knowing where your head’s at. You do the same with me. You pay attention to what I’m doing and saying, guess how I’m feeling. If I’m feeling like shit, you try to make it better. When it’s good, you want to enjoy it with me.”

Beth settled back down.

“So how you feeling about Annie?” he pressed.

“Both - angry and worried,” she admitted.

“Nothing wrong with that,” he said. “You’re putting yourself in Nancy’s shoes even though you’re usually on Annie’s side. ‘Course you’d be upset, even if she’s your sister.”

“It’s just so stupid of her!” Beth sighed. “How’s Ben going to deal with this if it comes out? Ben and Nancy are close, even if Annie doesn’t want to think about that. It’ll bite everyone in the ass.”

“And you’ll be left tidying up,” Rio guessed. Beth groaned. “Want me to take care of it for you?”

Beth’s head came up. “What? Take care of how?”

Rio was grinning. “I’m just fucking with you,” he said, “I got nothing. Sometimes you just gotta let people make their mistakes.”

“But I don’t -“

He set his thumb over her lips. “Elizabeth, you can’t keep cleaning up everyone’s messes. It’ll drive you insane and you ain’t doing anyone favours with that. If your kids never learn that actions have consequences that they’re going to have to deal with, how are they gonna cope as adults?”

She tried to protest, but he cut her off.

“You have anyone doing that shit for you growing up?” Beth clenched her teeth, shook her head. He knew she hadn’t. “You’re swinging too far in the other direction when you try to control everything for everyone.”

“Oh, am I?” Beth sat up, glaring at him.

Rio reached out and pulled her back down. “Yes, you are,” he told her. “When Marcus fucks up, I can’t just step in and protect him from everything or he’ll never learn how to clean up after himself. If he spills something, I’m not saying that I get mad or that I make him do it all himself. I teach him how you gotta be careful when you clean up a spill because if you aren’t, you might wind up making a bigger mess. You break a glass and don’t put shoes on, you might hurt yourself. You spill juice and do a half-assed job, you’re gonna get a sticky floor.”

Beth sighed. “My kids are fine,” she said.

He hummed. “Yeah, they are. They’re good kids. But you gotta start letting them learn how to deal with their own messes or you’re gonna end up looking at your son and wondering -“

He stopped.

“Wondering what?” Beth demanded.

“Wondering how he fucked up a relationship with the perfect woman.”

Beth stiffened, then pushed away. “Oh, I see. It’s my fault that Dean screwed around.”

“No!” Rio followed her up. “I’m not,” he said, a little quieter. “I’m not saying that.”

She crossed her arms and moved to the other end of the couch. “Then what are you saying?” She didn’t look at him, but she heard him sigh.

“You think Dean ever cleaned up after himself when he was a kid?” Rio asked. “When he messed up, did his parents make him deal with the consequences?”

No. Beth knew that the answer was no. Judith coddled Dean. Had always gathered up the dirty dishes that he left everywhere. It had taken Beth years to get him to take his dishes even as far as the kitchen, let alone into the dishwasher or sink.

“He ever really fuck up? Do something that should have gotten him in real trouble, but it didn’t because Mommy and Daddy got him out of it?” Rio went on.

He had. There had been a DUI when he was 17. Beth knew that his dad had gone to get the charges dismissed. Had said that Dean was a promising athlete. A good boy. He’d just made a mistake. More than once over the years, Beth had practically wrestled the keys away from him if they went out. He had slowed down over the years, thankfully, and he’d never - to her knowledge - hurt anyone, but he hadn’t _learned_.

“You starting to see what I’m saying?” Rio’s hand came out to trace along her cheek. “You shield them from everything, they’re not gonna know how to do anything.”

“So, what? I’m a bad mother?” Beth sniffed.

“No,” Rio said firmly, pressing against her cheek to get her to turn her head towards him. “You’re an amazing mother, Elizabeth. And you’re doing that shit for the right reasons but you can’t do everything for them.”

Beth scanned Rio’s face, then grimaced. “Why are you so logical all the time?” she muttered.

He laughed and set their foreheads together. “My parents had ideas,” he responded.

“You don’t talk much about your family.” Beth slid back towards him.

Rio jerked his head. “My dad didn’t like what I do. We didn’t talk much.” His eyes hardened. “Didn’t stop him from accepting money from me though.”

Beth put her hand over his and stroked the back of it.

“He died a couple years ago.” Rio turned his hand over so that their palms were pressed together. “Heart attack. My mom moved to be closer to me after that. She doesn’t really like what I do either but -“ he swallowed, “she gets it. Mostly she just ignores it.”

“Must have been hard,” Beth said, “not getting along with them.”

He shrugged. “Least they were around. Knew a lot of guys who didn’t even have that, which was still better than the ones with shit parents. Though it’s a close call.”

“You’re a good father.”

He smiled. “Am I?”

Beth nodded. “Yes, you are. Even Ruby thinks that Marcus is a great kid and she is very difficult to please. I think it’s all the brats she gets at the diner.”

“Yeah,” Rio laughed, “that would make me not like kids either.”

He pulled her back towards him, lying down again. “Speaking of my mom,” he said, with a fake casualness, “she wants to meet you. Keeps saying I’m hiding you. Or hiding her, I guess.”

Beth rubbed her hand back and forth over the soft fabric covering his pec. “I’d like to meet her too. If that’s ok.”

“Yeah,” he replied, “that’s okay.”

Conversation lapsed for a moment and Beth was starting to consider whether or not to pursue that topic, maybe ask him to figure out a date, when the fabric covering her legs began to inch upwards. It took her a second to realize that Rio was scrunching the skirt of her dress in his hand, pulling it up.

It only worked so well with her laying on top of him and laughing, Beth lifted herself up slightly so that she wasn’t trapping the front of the dress in between them, then lowered herself back on top of him.

He set his hands on her ass, fingers tracing the edges of her panties.

“These new?” he asked, lifting up slightly to look at them.

They were, but Beth didn’t exactly feel like admitting she’d gone shopping for nice underwear because of him.

Rio hummed happily like he knew her answer anyways.

Hooking his finger under the lace, he pulled it up a bit, then let it go to thwack against her skin.

“It’s pretty,” he commented. “Know what I wanna see you in?”

Beth swallowed. “I don’t know. What?”

“Green.”

Beth made a face. “Really?”

“Uh huh.” Rio continued to run his hands over her. “Emerald green. With your skin and hair, it’d look good. Blue too, something sapphire.”

“So what you’re saying is that you want me to get more panties?” Beth guessed.

“I’m happy to get ‘em for you, sweetheart,” he said, sliding his hands under the waistband so he was palming her bare ass. “So long as you wear ‘em for me. Would you do that?”

Beth’s mouth fell open a little and her breath caught when he slid one hand further down, finger tracing between her ass cheeks until the tip of his middle finger was just brushing over her cunt.

“That get you wet?”

Beth lifted her hips against his hand.

“Think that’s a yes,” he drawled, lips brushing over the shell of her ear. He sank the tip of his finger inside, then pulled it out to circle it over her clit. “You like it when I do this?”

Beth nodded against his chest.

“Open up your legs a little more.” The hand not teasing her clit squeezed her ass.

She did as asked and then moaned when he sank his finger all the way in without warning. “Oh!” Beth rolled her hips. His long fingers pressed down on either side of her cunt as he fucked her shallowly.

It felt good. Really good.

But she wanted more. So she pushed herself up enough that she could get her hands on Rio’s belt. Undoing the buckle, she pulled it out with a yank and tossed it aside, moving on to his pants.

“Feelin’ impatient?” he teased, sobering when Beth nodded. Like that flipped a switch that turned him from teasing to serious, he pushed a second finger inside of her and started to stretch her out. For her part, Beth started to stroke him root to tip as he hardened. “Ride me,” he demanded.

Nodding, Beth moved her skirt as she straddled Rio’s thighs.

He pulled his fingers free, making her moan. Both of his hands came to one side of the panties and as Beth started to lift up so he’d be able to get them down her thighs, he ripped them at the seam.

“Rio!” Beth cried out, pulling up her skirt to get a look at the damage. Rio was already shoving the remnants of her underwear to the side. “Those were new!”

He grinned at her. “I’ll buy you more. Come on.”

She wanted to be angrier about him destroying her panties, but she just rolled her eyes as she held him place so that she could sink down on his cock. She went slowly, taking him with rolls of her hips and the occasional nudge to her clit.

“You make me feel so _full_ ,” Beth said, more than a little breathy, as she worked to take the last inch.

“That a complaint?” Rio asked, running his hands up and down the backs of her thighs.

Beth shook her head, groaning as she sank down that final inch. Biting her lip, she circled her hips.

Holding her in place, Rio shifted up the couch until he was partially reclined against the cushions resting against the arms. “You make me feel so good,” he said to her, using his grip on her hips to start up a shallow rhythm. “Not just when you’re taking my cock like this. Or in your hand or your mouth.”

Like that had reminded them of something, Rio surged up to kiss her even as Beth bent to do the same. They laughed as their lips met in a series of short kisses.

“But I like it when you do that stuff too,” he said against her lips, then fell back again.

Beth adjusted her hands so that they were spanned across his chest to give her leverage to lift herself slightly.

“What else do you like?” she asked, sinking back down with a shiver.

Rio smiled up at her, thrusting his hips up when she wasn’t expecting it and driving a whimper from her lips. “Like it when you’re being stubborn as fuck and when you’re all flustered because you know I was right about something.”

Beth stopped mid-rise and scowled at him. But he just used his grip on her hips to move her the rest of the way, then tugged her back down.

“Like it when you’re being all sweet with your kids, with my kid.” He sounded too put together for Beth, so she tightened around him. “When you’re being all mama bear.”

“Oh?” Beth kept riding him, tightening on the way up to make Rio’s head dig into the pillow as he groaned.

“When you’re taking care of me,” he said when he relaxed into the couch again. “Don’t stop,” he instructed, letting go of her hips to come up to the neckline of the dress.

“Don’t you dare rip it,” she snapped.

He laughed, slipping his hand inside the fabric to squeeze her breast before removing it to hunt for the zipper in the back

“It’s on the side,” Beth told him. “My left.”

She must have been affecting him more than she realized because he went for her right side first, groaning as she sank down again. She shook her head. “Other side.”

Once he found the tiny little pull tab, he tugged it down until he reached the point where the dress was crumpled from being pushed up. But that was enough to loosen it up at her chest, so he tugged the neckline down so that it scooped under her breasts, actually lifting them up.

Pleased with himself, Rio sat up again to run his tongue over the lace, teasing her skin where it poked through.

“This new too?”

Beth nodded. “It’s, well, it _was_ a matched set.”

“My bad,” Rio hummed, biting at her nipple. “I’ll get you another one.”

After that, they lost the thread of conversation as she just rode Rio on the couch, her thighs starting to ache.

Rio caught the change in tone in her next whimper, his hands coming to her lower back. He surged up, changing the position of his cock inside of her as he tipped her onto her back.

That was enough for her and she started to come. Crying out, she fisted her hands in his shirt as he knelt on the couch and pressed deeper. “Like that?”

Beth nodded frantically, trying to rub her clit against Rio’s pelvis to prolong the sensation. It worked and she rode the top of her peak as Rio picked up the pace.

Finally, she started to come down, blinking up at Rio, who was staring down at her. Swallowing, she let go of his shirt and moved her hands to his back, then his ass.

“Come on,” she demanded. “Come on, Rio. Fill me up.”

He shuddered.

“Make me even more full of you,” she found herself saying. “Make it so that even when you pull out, I’ve still got you inside of me.”

Rio groaned. “Yeah?”

Beth nodded. “Come on.”

He was practically slamming into her now in his hunt for his orgasm, his mouth hanging open.

“You want my cum?” he asked. “Want me to make a mess of you, make it so I’m leaking out of you all night and you’ll wake up with me dry on your pretty thighs.”

Beth moaned. The continued pressure against her clit was going to get her over the edge again.

“Yeah,” Beth said, pulling him deeper with her hands.

Rio put his hands on the arm of the couch to brace himself as he fucked her until he was coming. He groaned, head falling forward to bury itself in her neck, and Beth squirmed under him to get herself off again.

She was sensitive and it worked. Rio felt it and he grunted into her neck, pushing as deep as he could.

They stayed like that for a moment, their breathing slowing together. Rio kissed the side of her neck and straightened up, but didn’t pull out.

“C’mon,” he said, voice rough, “we get cum on this couch, no way it’s gonna come out.”

Beth coughed, then started to laugh. Rio, his eyes dancing, met her gaze as he shook his head. Moving to wrap his arms behind her back, he lifted her off the couch.

Yelping, Beth wrapped her own arms around his neck as he hoisted her a little higher so that his cock slipped free. Beth shivered as he lowered her again, helping her regain her balance.

“You wanna clean up?” Rio asked, moving his hand to stroke her cheek and jaw.

Beth bit her lip. “Maybe a little,” she admitted.

Laughing, he nudged her towards the bathroom. She took her first step, then looked down to where her ripped underwear was falling to the floor. Turning to look over her shoulder, Beth gave him a look.

“You can leave those here,” he said. “I’m happy to hold onto ‘em for you.”

“And do what with them?” Beth narrowed her eyes at him.

Rio came close enough to bend to say into her ear, “For when you’re not around. Now go clean up before I start getting some new ideas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd, as always, by the wonderful medievalraven and neveroffanon. Thank you to them and to everyone that reads and leaves kudos/comments! I feel like this took me forever. Did you know that it's March now? March. Absolutely wild. Title from Lana Del Rey's Yayo.
> 
> If there's content that should be warned for, please let me know.


	11. if you love me right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth's family gets bigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, before we get started, I would just like to say...I swear, I wrote most of this before season 3.

Beth looked across the counter at Annie, who glared back at her.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Beth said at the same time that Annie blurted, “It just feels like you always think I’m doing the wrong thing.”

“Oh.” Annie deflated a little.

Beth reached over to her younger sister and held out her hand. “You have this habit of doing things that you know won’t end well. You sabotage yourself whenever you think you might be doing okay and I hate seeing it. I just want you to be happy.”

Annie looked down and Beth could hear her feet hitting the counter as she swung them back and forth.

“It just sucks, you know,” she said after a moment. “Being the fuck up.”

“You’re not a fuck up!” Beth insisted, sliding off the stool to walk to Annie’s side.

Annie scoffed. “Yeah, sure. I’m just the one who didn’t finish high school and can’t maintain a relationship and -“

Beth wrapped Annie in a hug. It took her little sister a beat to respond, but she hugged back. It was the tight kind of hug, where it felt like they were almost as close as two people could be. It felt good and Beth relaxed into it.

“You aren’t a fuck up,” Beth repeated. “You’re amazing. I mean, Ben is amazing, so you can’t be that bad.”

Annie started to laugh into Beth’s neck. “You’ve got a point.”

“Of course I do,” Beth said, patting Annie’s head, “I’m Big Sister.”

At the reminder of the book that Beth had liked to take out of the library when they were kids, Annie groaned. “Alright,” she said, pushing Beth back, “that’s enough of that.”

“You sure?” Beth asked, holding out her arms. “I’m free for the next fifteen minutes.”

Annie stuck out her tongue, then looked thoughtful. “You are very comfy,” she agreed. “Cuddle me on the couch?”

Laughing, Beth sat on the couch and let Annie lean into her as they watched daytime TV. 

“Damn,” Annie murmured, “your boobs get bigger or something?” 

Beth rubbed Annie’s hair. “They better not have. It’s already a pain in the ass finding bras.”

Annie giggled. “I dunno, I bet your boyfriend would be willing to throw all kinds of money at lingerie.”

Beth’s cheeks pinked at the reminder of what Rio had said to her the other night, about wanting to buy her underwear. He hadn’t followed up yet, but it had just been a couple days and both of them had been busy.

“Oh come on,” Annie whined, lifting her head, “he buys you fancy stuff already?”

“No!” Beth protested, unable to fight her blush. “He has brought it up though.”

Annie stuck out her tongue. “Ok, I’ll come with you and we can get some for me on his tab.”

Beth shoved her sister’s shoulder. “You’re not taking advantage of Rio, Annie,” she scolded. 

“ _Someone_ has to and it’s clearly not you,” Annie complained. “Seriously, Beth, get him to buy you expensive shit.”

Beth just shook her head. “No.” She used her firmest tone of voice to say it, hoping that Annie would listen. “Dean did that kind of stuff, buying me presents. At least at first. Usually to make up for something.”

Annie sighed.

“I’d rather have Rio’s time than something that cost a lot of money,” Beth explained. “Now shush or I’m kicking you out of the house early so I can get ready to go grocery shopping.”

“Ready to go grocery shopping?” Annie asked. “What is wrong with you?”

“I have to go over my list and get all my -”

Beth was cut off by Annie’s hand settling over her mouth. “I changed my mind,” Annie said, “I do not want to know.”

Batting Annie’s hand away, Beth relaxed into the couch.

The kids being at Dean’s for the weekend meant that Beth had the house to herself until Rio finished up. Sometimes, it was before dinner and other nights, it was a whole lot later.

She liked it when he came for dinner though and she was pleased to see a text from him saying he’d be there soon. It made the house a whole lot less quiet, but that wasn’t the only reason she liked having him there. 

At this point, it was almost weird when he wasn’t around.

“Hey,” Rio greeted her with a kiss.

“Dinner’s in twenty,” she told him, then wrinkled her nose.

Rio chuckled. “I’ll shower. Spent time with a couple of smokers today.”

Beth nodded, stepping away from him and breathing deeply once she couldn’t smell it anymore. 

She was cutting up bread when he returned, freshly showered and changed. 

“Clothes are soaking,” he told her, stroking his hand over her shoulders. “Didn’t think you’d smell it on me.”

“It’s fine,” Beth assured him. “Just threw me.”

He hummed. “What can I do to help?”

It was a quiet evening, peaceful even, the two of them on the couch - Beth knitting and Rio reading as he rubbed her feet, making her squirm from time to time.

She was working on a sweater for Ruby, a gorgeous turquoise that her best friend had admired in a dress a few weeks before.

Every so often, she would look up and see him watching her.

Eventually though, she set aside the yarn and needles, stretching and yawning. When she settled back into her seat, Rio was looking at her, but there was something different about his gaze.

“What?” Beth asked as Rio stared at her, head cocked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You get a new bra?”

“No.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

He leaned closer and brought his hands up to cup her breasts, lifting them slightly. “Your tits are bigger.”

“No, they aren’t,” Beth said. Although Annie had commented the same thing earlier.

“They are,” Rio insisted, squeezing. “I know your breasts, sweetheart.”

“And I don’t?” Beth snorted.

Though her bra had felt a little tight that morning, now that she thought about it. That in itself wasn’t odd though. Her weight fluctuated from time to time.

He looked at her, considering.

“Are you pregnant?”

“What?” Beth practically yelped at the question. “No!”

Rio stared at her. “How sure are you about that?”

Beth flushed. “I’m 41, Rio.”

“Yeah, and?” He let go of her. “It makes it less likely, but not impossible.”

Beth tried to remember when she’d had her last period, but she’d been irregular for years.

“It’s not like we’re taking steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen,” he said.

“I’m on birth control,” Beth reminded him.

He shrugged. “That’s got a failure rate.”

“You’re being silly,” Beth told him, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. “Do you want tea before bed?”

She figured that he let it go, but when he came to the house the next day, Rio dropped a pharmacy bag on the bed beside the laundry basket of clean clothes that Beth was folding. She looked at it, then up at him.

“Take it,” he said. “Please.”

Even without looking, she knew that it was a pregnancy test.

“Rio.”

“It’s not just your tits. You’ve been tired more lately and what if you bein’ sick at the same time as the kids wasn’t actually you being sick. And yesterday, you reacted pretty strongly to the smell on my clothes when you haven’t before. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong and you can make fun of me,” he said, grabbing the bag again and shepherding Beth towards the bathroom.

He started to come in with her, but Beth put her hand out.

“I’ll take it, but you are not watching me pee.”

He opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it. “Okay.”

Opening the package, Beth read over the directions quickly and tossed them onto the counter.

After peeing, she washed her hands and patted them dry, then started her alarm.

Rio was sitting on the bed, waiting when she came out. He didn’t say anything and Beth couldn’t read his face. Whatever he was feeling, he was hiding from her.

Beth set the test on the nightstand. “It’ll be a couple minutes.”

He nodded and Beth went back to folding laundry until her phone beeped.

She was closer and snatched it up, holding her breath as she looked at the display.

As soon as she read it, she handed the test over and he took it. Registered the readout and tilted his head back to look up at Beth who had, in the meantime, set her hands on his shoulders.

“We’re having a baby?” His voice was raw.

Beth nodded.

His lips turned up. “We’re having a baby,” he repeated, then pressed his face against her belly with a smile.

“You’re not - upset?” she asked.

“No,” Rio said emphatically. “I’m happy.”

“Oh.”

“You thought I’d be upset?” Rio asked, running his hand up and down her lower back.

Beth bit her lip, looked down at her stomach, which didn’t seem to be any different from usual yet.

“You never said you wanted more kids,” she said slowly.

“No,” he admitted, “I didn’t. But I didn’t say I didn’t want them either.” He tilted his head back to look up at her. “Doesn’t mean I’m not excited as fuck.”

She jabbed him in the shoulder. “No swearing around the baby.”

He smiled. “The baby.”

Rio’s hands went to the hem of her shirt and he started to shove it up.

“Rio!” Beth nearly fell over, thrown off balance by the sudden disappearance of his hand on her back.

He quickly steadied her, then went back to pushing her shirt up.

“You can’t see anything, Rio,” she told him, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m probably just a few weeks.”

Rio didn’t reply, just spanned his hands over her stomach. She usually wasn’t super self-conscious around Rio, not anymore, but having him focus so much on her belly had her shifting uncomfortably.

He seemed to understand and took his hands away, tugging her shirt back down. Hands on her hips, he pulled her onto his lap.

“When d’you think it happened?” he asked, voice low and rough.

Beth’s eyes widened, then cast her mind back. There were several times that it could have happened, depending how far along she was.

“When I bent you over the kitchen table?” he suggested, hands sliding around to grab her ass and pull her even closer. “When you rode me on the couch?”

She shivered and started to undo the buttons at the neck of his shirt. “Maybe here,” she replied, “in bed.”

Rio considered that answer. “Maybe. Could have been in the car.”

Beth flushed at that memory.

“The shower,” he went on. “All kinds of places.” He pulled away from her to yank his shirt off over his head and then started on hers. Arching her back, Beth reached up to unclasp her bra. They were a little sore and now knowing that she was pregnant, that took on a whole other meaning. She’d just thought it was PMS or something.

Rio helped lead the straps down her arms, grinning. “So I was right,” he said. “Your tits _are_ bigger.”

Beth squirmed a little. “They’re kind of sore too.”

“Aww,” he cooed, “sorry, sweetheart.” He cupped her breast in his hand. “This okay?”

She nodded.

Letting go, Rio went for their pants. Giggling, Beth tried to help until their hands tangled and he nudged hers out of the way. When he had them both naked, he slid further back on the bed and pulled her into his lap. Putting her knees on either side of his narrow hips, she let him manoeuvre them until the head of his cock was pressing against her.

Lowering herself onto him, Beth shivered at the stretch.

Rio, pressed up against her chest, cradled the back of her head in his hand as he nudged his hips into hers. He buried his face into her throat and opened his mouth over her skin.

“Come on,” Beth found herself saying. “I need you.”

His lips pulled back so that his teeth were worrying against her throat. “You need me?” He lifted his mouth but only to burrow into her jaw. “How d'you need me, baby?”

“I need you to fuck me,” she gasped, building a slow rhythm.

He chuckled. “I am fucking you, Elizabeth. Can’t you feel me?” He thrust a little more sharply.

Beth moaned in response, her hands digging into Rio’s back.

“You saying you want me to fuck you different?” he asked. She nodded. “How you want to be fucked? Tell me.”

Beth started to pick up her pace a little. “I want you.”

Rio hummed into her throat, then held her tightly to him as he rolled her onto her back.

“Like that?”

Beth nodded, tightening her legs around Rio and lifting her head to kiss him. When she fell back onto the mattress, bouncing a little, she moaned, dropping her hand to work her clit.

It hit her all at once, her orgasm leeching control of her body.

Rio took over for her fingers, continuing to stroke her through her peak as he fucked her.

“I love you,” he murmured, forehead pressed against hers as he got close.

Beth shivered and, regaining control of her muscles, wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Love you,” she replied, touching his cheek gently as he started to come.

He was quiet in the aftermath, but as he helped her clean up, she could see him smiling.

“I’ll book a doctor’s appointment,” Beth said, getting dressed enough that she could leave the bedroom.

“Lemme know when it is, I’ll clear my schedule.” Rio cradled her face in his hands and kissed her.

——————————

Rio went with her to the doctor’s office, where they confirmed that she was, in fact, pregnant before giving her lists of things to avoid, things to do more of, lists of appointments.

She looked at the pages as Rio drove them back to the house.

“You’re quiet,” he remarked, reaching over to rest his hand on her thigh.

Beth set the papers down onto her lap and turned to look at him. “I’m thinking. It’s been a while since I went through all this. And how are we gonna tell the kids? How are they gonna react?”

“I can tell you how Marcus is gonna feel,” Rio said, squeezing her thigh before putting his hand back on the wheel. “He’ll be ecstatic. He’s always wanted to be a big brother. Apparently Jane doesn’t accept that him being a few months older means anything.”

Beth laughed. She’d heard that debate more than once.

“And I’m sure your kids will be fine,” he went on. “Especially Jane. She won’t be the baby anymore.”

“But what about once the baby’s getting all the attention that she’s used to?” Beth bit her lip.

“Hey,” Rio said. “Relax. Doc says you’re not supposed to get yourself worked up.”

“Telling me not to get worked up isn’t going to stop me from getting worked up, Rio,” Beth told him with a huff. “It’s liable to get me more worked up, if anything.”

He smiled. “You want something to eat?” He pointed down the road to a McDonalds and Beth knew, she just _knew_ it was a bribe because normally he’d never suggest it in a hundred years.

But, the thought of french fries made her stomach rumble. Rio chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“The baby wants french fries,” she told him.

He gave her a look. “Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be pulling that card all the time?”

Beth smiled as he pulled into the drive-thru lane. “There are perks to being the pregnant one. Oh fuck, I have to tell Ruby and Annie.”

“Hey,” Rio said, “no swearing around the baby, remember? You know what you want?”

He gave in and ate a handful of fries on the drive back to the house.

“They’re so salty and delicious,” Beth insisted.

“You make better ones,” he said, pulling into the driveway. “When you put herbs and spices and shit on them.”

Smiling to herself, Beth opened the passenger door and climbed out. “Think a car seat will fit in the back?” she teased him.

“If it doesn’t, I’ll get a new one,” Rio said, walking to the door with her and following her into the house. “We’ll have to update the van too.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the van,” Beth said, stepping out of her shoes.

Rio shook his head. “There’s plenty wrong with that van,” he said under his breath.

Beth chose to ignore that.

—————————————

To anyone that didn’t know about the pregnancy, it wasn’t immediately obvious. There were a handful of small changes - like her chest, which Annie and Ruby were staring at.

“A baby, at your age?” Annie asked, yelping when Ruby jabbed her in the side. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant it like - fuck, you know what I’m trying to say!”

Beth wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to say, but nodded anyways.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I think what Annie’s trying to say is that we’re happy for you if this is what you want.”

Beth nodded again.

“Rio’s happy?” Annie asked.

“I think he’s more excited than I am, to be honest,” Beth admitted, sipping her mint tea. Rio had practically brought an entire tea shop worth of stuff for her to try now that she’d cut caffeine from her diet.

“The kids know yet?” Ruby asked.

Beth shook her head. “The plan is to tell them together.”

“Good luck,” Ruby lifted her mug to toast her.

“Rio says that Marcus has been begging for a sibling for years,” Beth said with a smile.

“You already gave him four,” Annie pointed out, “I think you more than fulfilled his wishes.”

“Whose wishes?” Rio came into the living room, sweaty from his run.

“Marcus’ wish for a sibling,” Beth said, wrinkling her nose when he bent down to kiss her.

Rio laughed. “I’m gonna shower. You ladies need anything while I’m up?”

“No thanks,” Beth and Ruby said.

“Pringles,” Annie replied.

Rio looked to Beth. “You got Pringles?”

Beth shook her head.

“Then you’re outta luck,” Rio told Annie. “Ain’t leaving the house.”

Annie pouted, but still watched him walk away, ignoring Beth when she kicked her in the hip. “Damn Beth,” she murmured. “He want you to call him daddy now?”

Beth gasped. “Annie!”

“I heard that,” Rio called from partway down the hall and turned his head to look back at them. “And I’ll remind you that I was already a daddy before this.” He wagged his eyebrows, making Beth’s mouth drop open in shock, then went into the bedroom.

The shower had turned on by the time any of them were able to speak again.

“I am very happy for you,” Ruby said to Beth, lifting her cup of coffee.

Annie nodded. “I’ll cheers to that.” She lifted her cup too, then nudged Beth until she picked up her tea and clinked them together. “To Beth and her new daddy - oh, sorry, baby daddy.”

Beth groaned, but took a sip of tea. It was bad luck not to do it.

“Now never call him that again,” she told Annie, shaking her finger in her sister’s face, then pulling away when Annie tried to snap her teeth at her.

Annie leaned back in her seat. “I make no promises.”

—————————————————

Rio came back to the dining room after taking the now empty dinner plates into the kitchen with Danny and Jane’s help.

“Can we have dessert?” Kenny asked.

“Not yet,” Beth said. “Rio and I have to talk to you guys about something.”

The kids immediately tensed up.

“It’s not bad,” she tried to reassure them. “I promise. It’s good.”

Marcus, looking between Beth, his father, and the others, spoke up first. “What is it?”

Beth smiled. “Our family’s going to get a little bit bigger,” she told them.

“Is it because my dad and me are in it now?” Marcus asked, his brows pulling together.

She heard Rio laugh softly at the other end of the table.

“No, honey -“

“We’re not in it?” Marcus’ eyes widened and his mouth fell open a little.

“What Elizabeth means,” Rio stepped in, “is that soon, you’re all gonna have a new brother or sister.”

“Yes!” Marcus shouted, clapping his hands together.

The other reactions are a little more muted than Marcus’, but no one seemed upset with the news, which had been Beth’s concern.

“That’s what I asked for at Christmas,” Marcus explained, “a little brother or sister.”

Rio cleared his throat. “That’s not really how it works, pop.”

Marcus shrugged. “Whatever, still came true.”

Jane came to sit next to Beth, staring at her stomach. “When do we get the baby?”

“Not until the summer, honey.”

“I want a sister,” she told Beth. “Right now there’s more boys and it’s not fair.”

Beth laughed and pulled Jane in for a hug. “I’ll do my best,” she drawled, not bothering to explain how biological sex was determined.

Kenny, by this point an old hand at being told he was going to be a big brother, stood up. “So is there dessert?”

“Sure,” Beth told him. “There’s ice cream in the freezer. Get enough bowls and spoons for everyone.”

“I’ll help,” Jane said, racing to the kitchen before Kenny.

Danny came over to give her a hug. Beth squeezed him tightly when he did and when he pulled away, he smiled at her before going back to his seat.

Emma did the same, but she stayed on Beth’s lap for a little while, asking Beth quiet questions about the baby.

Rio shuffled the chairs so he was sitting next to Beth. Reaching out to take the hand that was curled around Emma’s leg, he lifted it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

“How ‘bout we give your mama a break, huh?” he said to Emma softly.

He must not have been expecting Emma to throw herself off Beth’s lap and wrap her arms around his neck because Beth saw the expression of surprise before it settled into a pleased one.

—————————————————

It had been a while since Beth experienced pregnancy symptoms and it was almost like they hit her all at once. 

Cravings? Check.

Nausea? Check, although she was relieved that it tended to fade quickly.

Skin problems? Check.

Getting hit with seemingly spontaneous sexual arousal? Check.

Rio came in the kitchen door and the second that Beth saw him, she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall to the bedroom.

Beth shoved Rio back onto the bed. He grinned up at her as she undid his belt and yanked his pants part of the way down.

“Hello to you too, sweetheart,” he drawled only to hiss when she got her mouth on him. “Oh fuck.”

Beth bobbed her head as she tongued under the head of Rio’s cock.

“Uh uh,” he said after a moment, tugging at her hair. Beth pulled off. “Want you riding me.”

Beth lifted an eyebrow. “You do, do you?”

He nodded, reaching up to undo her pants and tug them down along with her panties. “Yeah,” he hummed, touching the inside of her thigh and moving his hand up until Beth had to adjust her legs so he could touch her. “You been wet for long?” he asked, far too conversationally as he fingered her. Beth shook her head. “Liar,” he teased. “I bet you’ve been squirming around all afternoon, thinking ‘bout me.”

“No I wasn’t!” Beth protested.

Rio pushed up her shirt with his other hand until Beth had to take over and pull it over her head.

“Fuck, I love these,” he muttered, cupping her breasts and then pressing his face into them, licking her bare skin above her bra.

Beth laughed, grabbing onto the back of his skull.

He pulled his fingers out, using them to hold her open as she sank down on him.

“There we go,” he said, moving his hands to her hips as Beth started to grind her hips. She groaned at the feeling that she’d been craving for hours, alone in the house and aware that nothing else could give it to her.

“That what you been needing?” Rio asked, like he was capable of reading her thoughts. Still sitting up, feet on the floor, he had leverage to thrust up into her when she wasn’t expecting it.

Beth shook her head.

“Liar,” Rio teased. “I can see it on your face. How bad you’ve been wanting me. How good I make you feel.”

Beth didn’t respond to that, already feeling close.

“How much you love it when I’m inside of you,” he murmured, nosing at her throat until she tipped her head back and gave him access to all of it. “Member what you said to me a while back?” Beth said a lot of things and had no idea what he was referring to, so she shook her head.

“No?” He nipped the underside of her chin, then kissed the same spot. “I think that’s gonna be playing on repeat in my head until the day I die. You asked me to make you full of me.” He started to thrust and Beth’s toes curled. She was almost there.

“Said you wanted me inside of you even after I pulled out,” he went on. “Guess you got your wish.”

Starting to come around him, Beth lost track of her rhythm. Rio didn’t though, bouncing her in his lap as she moaned his name.

His hand came up to tug down her bra strap, but Beth grabbed his fingers before he could pull the cup down.

“Too sore,” she moaned.

Rio nodded and kept thrusting into her until he was coming, holding Beth in place so he could stay deep.

They were lying side by side in bed, cooling off, when Rio passed his tablet to Beth.

“What is it?” she asked, even as she started to read. It was a real estate listing.

“No way in hell are we raising our kid in the house you bought with your ex,” Rio said. “Sides, it’s too small.”

Beth looked at the listing. “This place has eight bedrooms!”

“You telling me a guest room won’t be handy from when your sister and Ruby drink a little too much and need to crash?”

“Eight bedrooms!” Beth repeated.

Rio held up his hand and started ticking off fingers. “You and me. Marcus. Kenny. Danny. Emma. Jane, the baby. Maybe they aren’t clamouring for their own rooms now, but you think Emma’s gonna be cool sharing with her sister once she’s thirteen? Fourteen? Think any of them are gonna want to share with a two year old? And we both know we’re gonna wind up with guests.”

“We don’t even always have all the kids at the same time,” Beth said.

He shook his head. “You think that means that they won’t want their own spaces if they can get ‘em?”

Beth pursed her lips.

“Look at the listing. We don’t have to get this one, but I’m serious. I want us to be living somewhere that’s ours.”

“This is way too expensive,” she said, looking through the photos. “Rio, it’s ridiculous.”

“It’s not a problem,” he assured her.

“I’m not moving out of here only to wind up under a handful of mortgages again,” she started to protest, but he set his fingers against her lips.

“We ain’t taking out a mortgage, sweetheart.”

Beth looked at the listed price. It had seven digits. She raised her head to study Rio. “How much money do you have?”

“You want exact figures?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Because I’d have to get some property evaluated for that.”

“Ballpark,” Beth said.

He grinned.

——————————————

“Elizabeth.”

Beth glared at him. “You can’t just say my name and expect me to just -“

He stepped closer and set his hand against her belly. The action calmed her immediately. “Breathe,” he demanded. She did. “What do you think of the place?”

She frowned. “It’s too modern. Cold.”

“It’s a new house, of course it’s not homey,” Rio said. "That’s what decorating is for.”

Beth looked around.

“You don’t like it.”

“Not really,” she admitted. “I mean, the amount of space is good but it’s just too…pointy.”

Rio chuckled. “Less pointy. Alright, I’ll let the realtor know.”

She blushed.

“Relax, I know what you mean, baby.” He stroked his thumb back and forth across her belly. She was just starting to show. Most people wouldn’t even notice, not when she was wearing a jacket or a bulky sweater. “We’ll find something.”

Beth sighed. He just kissed her cheek.

“Let’s go. No point wasting more time on this place if it’s not for us. There’s another one to see today too.”

The second house, while less pointy than the first, had the same coldness to it that was immediately off-putting to Beth. Rio liked the clean lines, but he was just as aware of her discomfort in the space.

“No?” he asked gently once Courtney had led them through.

Beth shook her head, feeling tired.

They went back to the house, where Ruby was supervising the combined Boland-Hill kids.

“No luck?” Ruby asked when they came in.

Beth shook her head. “Too modern.”

Ruby hummed. “You need to go lie down. You’re getting cranky.”

“No I’m not!” Beth started to protest, then stopped. “Maybe a little bit.”

“Take a nap,” Rio said, kissing her briefly. “I’ll deal with dinner.”

Beth shuffled off, yawning, and left Ruby and Rio in the kitchen.

“She okay?” Ruby asked once the bedroom door closed.

Rio sighed, but nodded. “I think the next one’s more up her alley.” He pulled out the tablet and tapped around, then passed it over to Ruby. “It’s why we didn’t see it first.”

Ruby flipped through the photos and whistled. “Damn, this is nice.”

“Let’s just hope she likes it,” Rio said, scrubbing his hand over his face. “Because if she doesn’t, then I’ve got no fucking clue what she wants.”

“Why didn’t you show her this one first?” Ruby asked, still looking through photos of the house.

Rio put on water for tea. “I’m making sure she knows what she don’t like.”

Ruby laughed. “Remind me not to cross you.”

He grinned at her. “She’s not sure about the house thing,” he admitted. “Seems to think this place is big enough. Figured she was gonna hate the first few no matter what.”

“You’re probably right,” Ruby agreed. “She can be stubborn.”

“Can be?” Rio asked, shaking his head. “Is.”

Ruby apparently couldn’t argue with that, because she just smiled and started to gather her things.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Rio offered. “I’m sure Beth will be dying to talk to you later.”

“Thanks,” Ruby said, “but no can do. Stan’s making chilli tonight. Tell her I’ll call her in the morning?”

Rio nodded, seeing her to the door and waving when her car pulled out of the driveway.

He made his way to the bedroom after she was gone, finding Beth curled up in bed.

“I heard that,” she mumbled.

He joined her, pressing himself against her back. “Heard what?”

“You making sure I know what I don’t like,” she said.

Rio rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “You mad?”

She turned her head so she was looking at him. “Is this next one nice?”

“I think you’ll love it,” he answered.

Beth bit her lip, chewing it between her teeth for a moment before letting it go. “You like it too?”

Rio nodded.

“Then I’m not mad,” she said, turning her face away and relaxing into her pillow. “Just don’t make it a habit.”

He wove their fingers together and kissed the back of her neck. “Okay.”

———————————

“Third time’s a charm,” Courtney said as they met her in front of the house.

From the outside, Beth was inclined to agree with her. It was a Victorian, shaded by a number of trees.

Rio held out his hand for hers and she took it, lacing their fingers together. They followed Courtney up to the front door, then into the foyer.

Beth immediately fell in love. It was gorgeous. Well maintained and clearly, someone had put money into it recently. Courtney rattled off facts and details about the house and the neighbourhood as she led them through a parlour at the front of the house, a family room, a dining room, and back into a massive kitchen.

Rio laughed when Beth practically raced to the double ovens.

“All new appliances,” Courtney told them. “There’s a servants’ stair here at the back of the house as well.” She opened a door, revealing another stairwell. “This is also how you access the attic.”

They went upstairs to explore the bedrooms, the attic - which had been refinished and turned into a secondary family space, “Or another bedroom,” Courtney suggested.

The backyard was big.

“We’re not putting in a pool,” Rio said before Beth could suggest it.

“Why not?” Beth asked.

His eyebrow went up. “You realize how common drowning deaths are? Plus the maintenance, the rapid decay in value, and those trees?” He pointed. “They’d have to come down.”

Beth pursed her lips. “Fine.”

“You ask nice,” he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind, “we’ll put in one of those nice big bathtubs.”

Beth smiled. “I have to ask nicely?”

“Uh huh,” Rio said. “Don’t want the baby learning bad manners.”

She elbowed him in the stomach, making him laugh and step away. “Come on,” he said. “We still need to check out the basement.”

After finishing the tour, Courtney left them alone to talk in the foyer.

Beth ran her hands over the bannister. “It’s a gorgeous house, Rio.”

“It is,” he agreed. “We’ll make an offer.”

She bit her lip. “Are you sure? It’s a lot of -“

“What use is money if you’re not using it?” Rio teased her, tugging on her hair. “The money isn’t an issue. Besides, it’s been on the market a while, so Courtney’s pretty sure we can talk them down. You can see us living here?”

Beth nodded. “Can you?”

His smile was soft. “Yeah. Can see you in that big ass kitchen, ordering everybody around.” She flushed, but before she could protest, he went on. “Napping on a couch in that big family room.”

Beth could see it too. Rio carrying the baby into the bedroom. Or lying on the couch, baby sleeping on his chest. The kids tearing up and down the stairs - probably running and having to be scolded - or working on homework in the kitchen while she made dinner.

“Make the offer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd, as always, by the wonderful medievalraven and neveroffanon. Thank you to them and to everyone that reads and leaves kudos/comments! Title from Tove Lo's "Talking Body". If there's content that should be warned for, please let me know.


	12. i'm fully charged, nipples are hard, ready to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Rio move to the new house. As they get ready for the baby, Beth's on a bit of a roller coaster. Rio is excited for the newest member of the family.

“I have to tell him, Rio,” Beth said, hand on his forearm.

Rio sighed. “And I want to be here. Elizabeth, he’s a dick. Knowing him, he’ll do some shit to upset you.”

“He gets defensive around you,” Beth tried to reason, but Rio shook his head.

“That’s his problem,” Rio said, “not yours or mine.”

“Rio -“

“Elizabeth,” he cut her off, “I’m serious. There’s no fucking way I’m letting you do this on your own.”

Beth chewed on her bottom lip. Dean would be there within the next half hour or so. She’d told him nothing other than that she wanted to talk to him.

“It’s not because I don’t trust you or because I think you’re going to do it wrong somehow,” he explained. “But if he says something to upset you, are you going to be able to kick him out of the house?”

No. And Rio knew he was right.

He set his hand on her stomach, like he’d taken to doing almost constantly. It was going to give her a complex. “I’m not going to let him try to hurt you for being happy.”

Huffing, Beth crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

“Now, you wanna use this time to glare at me or you wanna use this time to start looking through that junk pile of yours you keep mentioning.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “I mentioned it once. You’re the one who keeps scowling at it.”

Rio, who had a habit of wanting things to be in the right spot, had nearly had a conniption when she’d opened the drawer.

“Admit it, you’re just trying to be Marie Kondo.”

He just shook his head and pulled out a stool for her at the island.

They were squabbling over whether or not Beth needed the expired warranty information for the TV - Rio was adamant that it was unnecessary, but Beth insisted that she might _need_ it - when there was a knock.

Beth glanced at the clock, surprised to see that it had already been half an hour and when she moved to get up, Rio was already across the kitchen, hand on the knob.

Rio opened the door and Beth heard him guffaw. “What do you think this is, Car Man?”

Beth watched Rio shift aside and let Dean, holding a bouquet of flowers, step inside.

Dean was glaring at Rio, but shifted his focus to Beth. “You didn’t say that he’d be here,” he said. “Thought you said we needed to talk.”

“We do,” Beth said before Rio could insert his opinion. Despite what Rio thought, she didn’t need him antagonizing her ex-husband. “But part of the reason that we need to talk is because of -“ she trails off. “Why don’t you sit down?”

Setting the flowers down, Dean took a seat as far from Rio as he could and Beth saw Rio smirk from the corner of her eye, though when she turned to give him a look, he had a blank expression.

“What’s this about?” Dean asked, glancing back and forth between the two of them.

“I’d rather you hear this from me than from the kids,” Beth started. “And I don’t want them to feel like they have to keep secrets.”

Dean’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

Rio picked up Beth’s hand from the table and interlaced their fingers. He was staying quiet, letting her handle it.

“Rio and I are expecting.”

“Expecting?” Dean looked confused.

“I’m pregnant,” Beth said.

Dean’s head reared back. “You can’t be serious.”

“And with Marcus and Rio joining the family too, the house isn’t big enough, so we’ll be selling and moving.” Beth got out the rest before Dean could say anything else. There, now it was done.

“You’re having his kid?” Dean’s shock was clear.

“I suggest watching what you say,” Rio interrupted. “Because while Elizabeth might let you get away with stuff, I’m not doing that. And if you upset her, I will remove you from this house.”

“It’s my house,” Dean snapped.

Rio snorted. “You wanna buy out Elizabeth’s half, I’m sure we can talk about it.”

“You can’t be serious,” Dean repeated, turning to Beth. “You’re having a baby with a - sorry, what do you even do?”

“More than you ever did,” Rio shot back. “And unlike you, I didn’t get the keys to the kingdom handed to me. Didn’t run it into the ground.”

Beth squeezed his hand. “That’s not the point, Dean. The point of this conversation is because I wanted to tell you before the kids did. I didn’t want you having this reaction around them.”

Dean sobered slightly. “I’d never hurt our kids.”

Rio scoffed under his breath, and Beth squeezed his hand again. It was going somewhat well so far, and she didn’t want that to change.

“There’s a lot of ways to hurt someone,” she said calmly. “There’s some financial things that we need to sort out concerning the sale of the house, so I think it’s best that you let your lawyer know that mine will be reaching out.”

“Can I talk to you privately for a moment?” Dean asked.

Beth shook her head. “What could you have to say to me?”

Dean glanced at Rio, then back to Beth. “He’s a criminal, Beth.”

She sighed. Technically, it was true, so any attempts she made to deny it would just come off as desperate.

Dean’s eyes widened. “You know? You know who this guy is and you bring him into our kids’ lives and our house -”

Beth slapped her hand down on the counter. “This is _not_ our house. It ceased to be your house when you had multiple affairs and nearly lost it. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the biggest danger to my children.”

He looked taken aback, whether by her words or by the simple fact that she’d said them, Beth wasn’t sure.

“My lawyer will be contacting you. I think you should go.”

Dean left without another word beyond a glare at Rio.

Beth took a shaky breath.

“You gonna be mad if I throw those flowers out?” Rio asked.

She looked at him. “What?”

Rio pointed to the bouquet that Dean had brought.

“Oh,” she said, then shook off her surprise. “I think I’ll break it up and put it in the girls’ room.”

He nodded. “You okay?” He ran his finger down the side of her face.

“You know what?” Beth said. “I think I am.”

Rio smiled and leaned over to kiss her. “There’s my boss bitch.”

“Rio!” Beth groaned.

—————————

Moving was stressful for Beth even though Rio was keeping her clear of most of it. He took her furniture shopping for the baby’s room one day, only for her to come home and discover that movers had been brought in to pack up the house under Ruby and Annie’s supervision.

Which made her cry for a solid half hour as Rio stroked her back and passed her potato chips.

“You’re such a jerk!” she wailed.

“Yup,” Rio agreed. “Jerk.”

“I was going to do all of that!”

“Elizabeth,” he nudged her face towards his, “you’re pregnant. You can’t be packing up a house.”

“I could have supervised,” she sniffed.

Rio sighed. “And gotten frustrated after twenty minutes and start insisting that you could do better? Nah. You have to take care of yourself, Elizabeth, and when you’re not willing to do it, I am.”

“I take care of myself!”

He kissed her cheek. “You take on shit you don’t need to, gorgeous. I’m not letting you take on even more.”

“You don’t let me do anything,” she said.

“Uh huh.”

“And I’m not gorgeous. I’m a mess!”

Rio kissed her all over. “Gonna have to disagree with you there. You’re the most gorgeous woman in the world.” He kissed her on the lips, then pulled away. “And I’m not gonna accept any backtalk on that, okay mami? Or there’s gonna be trouble.”

She started to giggle as he slowly pressed her back until she was lying back on the couch, her upset melting away to a steady burn of desire.

“Fuck,” Rio said when she made it clear what she wanted. “Gimme a minute,” he kissed down her neck. “You were just crying on me thirty seconds ago.”

But he went further down the couch, tugging Beth’s lounge pants with him and pressing his face against her cunt the second she was bare. She might have been crying thirty seconds before, but now she was horny as hell and Rio didn’t disappoint. He didn’t spend time teasing her or drawing it out. Instead, everything he did was deliberate, designed to get her off as quickly as he could. He knew as well as she did that in another thirty seconds she might be pushing his head away.

Beth gripped the cushion tightly and moaned as he flicked his tongue back and forth over her clit.

“Oh fuck,” she gasped, lifting her hips to press against his face. Rio slid a finger inside of her and started to stroke her front wall. Eyes slipping shut, Beth felt the quickly built orgasm hit.

It felt nice, like he’d just massaged out an ache, but she wanted more.

“I want you,” she said.

Rio lifted his head from between her thighs and evaluated her. He nodded once, then rolled off the couch to shed his pants. “How you want it?” he asked as he took himself in hand and started to jerk off.

Beth considered for a second, then struggled upright. Rio looked like he was going to help her, but she just scowled at him until he relaxed. Turning onto her hands and knees, she grabbed a throw pillow to help support her chest.

She glanced over at Rio and wiggled her ass.

He chuckled, but rather than getting in position, he moved near her head and crouched to kiss her. It was a filthy kiss, but…fond. He pulled away and got onto the couch behind her, one knee on the cushions and one foot still on the floor. The slow slide of his cock made Beth shiver as he spread her open for him.

“Yeah,” she breathed.

Rio’s hands came up to rub at the small of her back, right where she normally ached all the time. He rubbed little circles there as he pressed all the way in, digging in a little when his hips came in contact with her ass. She gasped, pulling away slightly before sinking back against him.

“Like that?” he asked, voice rough with desire.

“Uh huh,” Beth said as she nodded. “Like that.”

He started out slow, but Beth quickly grew impatient. “Harder,” she demanded, pushing back against him.

Rio just gripped her hips a little more tightly, fucking her steadily. Eventually, he moved his hand to circle her clit, making Beth moan and completely forget what she’d been telling him to do in the first place. He came not long after her, groaning into her neck as he spilled inside of her.

Clearly much more in control of his body, Rio kept himself from collapsing forward. He took a moment, then stood up.

“C’mon,” he said, sounding a little husky. “Let’s go to bed.”

She let him help her up and walked with him to the bedroom completely naked, something she probably never would have done in a thousand years before Rio.

He deposited her on the bed, but kept moving towards the en suite.

Beth remembered what she’d been trying to do earlier.

“You do know that you can’t hurt the baby, right?” Beth said to him.

Rio froze, halfway to the bathroom, then turned back towards her. “What?”

“Your penis isn’t going to hurt the baby,” she told him. “Didn’t you listen to the doctor? You don’t have to treat me like I’m a virgin on prom night.” She could hear the grumpiness in her voice and knew he could too.

He came back towards the bed and sat next to her hip. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Your dick isn't _that_ big,” she muttered.

Rio started to laugh. He brought his hand up to her cheek. “Don’t wanna hurt you.”

“You aren’t.”

“And I don’t want to, Elizabeth,” he said.

Beth bit her lip. “And if I say that it hurts that you don’t listen to me when I say I know what my body is capable of and what it’s not?”

Rio’s mouth settled in a firm line.

“Rio,” she said, taking his hand in hers, “I’m serious.”

He looked away even as he curled his fingers around hers. “When Nat found out she was pregnant, we’d already broken up. She didn’t notice at first because she didn’t have a lot of symptoms. So we found out pretty late.”

Beth waited for him to get to the point.

“We didn’t -“ he paused, “when she was -“

Oh. “So you’re saying that you’ve never had sex with a pregnant woman before?”

His eyes came back to hers. “I guess.”

“So you’re the virgin on prom night,” Beth concluded.

He scowled.

“Ok,” Beth said, “I can deal with that.”

“Yeah?” Rio drawled as Beth tugged him until he lay down too. “You gonna play some Kenny G., scatter rose petals all over the place?”

She nodded, turning onto her side so that she was facing him. “Of course,” she replied, setting her hand on his belly. “I’ll treat you right.”

Biting his lip, then releasing it, Rio hummed. “Well that’s good. I’m not a cheap date.”

Beth snorted. “Yes you are.”

“Oh, I am?” Rio looked offended.

“All I have to do is take my top off,” she teased, “and that’s free.”

—————————————

Beth woke up on the last day in the house she’d bought with Dean feeling a nauseating mixture of excitement and melancholy.

Rio seemed to recognize her need to say goodbye to the house on her own and after kissing her temple, settled at the kitchen counter with a crossword. “Let me know when you’re ready to go,” he said.

Beth nodded.

She started outside, walking over every patch of grass. Her kids had grown up here and while there were plenty of things that she wasn’t going to miss about the house, she would miss being able to look out of her kitchen window and seeing the treehouse that Danny had insisted he was going to live in for days one summer, only to last a couple of hours. The picnic table that they’d eaten countless meals at on warm days.

After that, it was upstairs, going through the kids’ rooms. Empty of furniture, they still had traces of the kids. The scuffs on the floor and dents in the walls. The new owners were doing some renos before moving in and one of the things that they’d mentioned was combining the bedrooms. They only had one child.

Downstairs was easier. Dean was in a lot of those memories and looking back on them, Beth knew that he’d been hiding all kinds of things from her. He’d been fucking other women. Had been gambling with the money that they needed to give their kids a good life.

She was slowly coming to realize that she wasn’t as angry as she was at first. The strong emotions had been fading as her feelings for Rio had grown. For Marcus, too.

Eventually, she circled back to the kitchen, where Rio was still working on his crossword.

“Ready?” he asked.

Beth hummed, laying her cheek against his back, between his shoulders. “Yeah.”

———————————————————

It was early evening when Beth collapsed into bed with a groan.

Rio laughed from the closet, where he was hanging up one of his dozens of basically identical button-ups. “Tired?” he called out.

“Yes,” Beth complained. “Now come to bed.”

He came out of the closet, holding a bunch of hangers in his hand. “It’s like 7 pm,” he said.

“Never said I was going to sleep,” Beth shot back.

“Oh?”

Beth nodded.

“Me being domestic, do it for you?” he teased, going back into the closet, but coming out without the hangers. “Hanging my clothes.”

“Talk dirty to me,” Beth said.

“I think you want me to talk real clean and organized to you, actually,” Rio replied, falling into bed beside her. “Want me to fuck you?”

His bluntness was still always a bit of a surprise to Beth, but it always made her heat up for him. He knew it too.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said before leaning over to kiss her. It didn’t take long for them to shed their clothes.

Giggling as she moved to the edge of the bed, Beth grabbed onto Rio’s hand. He was slow to enter her, but when Beth frowned at him, he shook his head.

“I’m just giving you a second to adjust,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll fuck you like you need, sweetheart.”

“Oh yeah?” Beth’s voice hitched when he pushed in the last inch.

Rio grinned. “Yeah. You want it hard?”

Beth bit her lip as she nodded.

He hummed, bending down until he was pressing against her belly. “Then I guess I’d better give you what you want,” he said, his free hand coming up to her jaw. “You’ll tell me if it’s too much?”

“Yes,” Beth promised.

Rio smiled at her, then shifted back so he wasn’t putting any pressure on her. Hands going to her hips, he held her in place as he pulled out, only to quickly reverse and thrust back in.

Beth gasped.

“Like that?”

Beth nodded her head frantically, grabbing onto the duvet cover when Rio set a hard and fast pace so delicious that her eyes shut as her mouth fell open. Once she could, she let go of the blanket with one hand and started to touch herself.

“Open your eyes,” Rio demanded after a moment, not moving again until she did exactly that. Her vision was hazy as she gazed up at him, moaning. “There?”

“Yes,” Beth replied.

“You gonna come?”

She nodded.

“Barely even touched you,” he said, his hips pounding into hers. “You gonna come for me as easy as that?’

“Yes!” Beth squirmed.

All it took was a couple more thrusts for her and she was moaning his name towards their ceiling. She had barely finished when Rio pulled out.

“What?” she said, feeling a little tired as he moved her onto her side.

“Wanna kiss you,” Rio said, doing just that as he climbed onto the bed behind her. “You good?”

Beth hummed, lifting up her leg so that Rio could push into her again. “Yeah,” she sighed. “Real good.”

He turned her head so they could continue to kiss as he slipped his arm under her head.

Rio got her off once more, this time with his fingers, before he came inside of her with a groan and a shudder.

“Love you,” he said, kissing her shoulder as he pulled out. 

———————————————————

A few days after they moved into the new house, Beth woke up to Rio sliding back into bed behind her.

Rio settled his hand over the curve of Beth’s tummy. “How are we this morning?” he asked Beth, stroking her skin. “Nauseous?”

She shook her head. “Not this second, but I bet if I stood up, that would not be the case.”

“Want me to make you some ginger tea or something?” He buried his face in the side of her neck, keeping up the soothing movement of his hand. “Breakfast in bed?”

Beth thought about it. “Ginger tea sounds good. And Oreos.”

“Oreos?” Rio was incredulous. “Really?”

“I want Oreos,” Beth rolled over onto her back. “We want Oreos.”

“For breakfast,” he said, unimpressed.

Beth hummed. “We have some.”

“For breakfast,” he repeated with emphasis. But Beth just kept looking at him until he groaned. “You’re explaining to Emma why you’re allowed to have Oreos for breakfast and she’s not.”

He got out of bed and found a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before coming back to bend down and kiss her forehead. “How about you try to get yourself upright. I’ll be back.”

“You’re the best,” Beth thanked him.

“Yeah yeah,” he muttered, “you always say that when you want something from me.” He was smiling as he said it though, so she knew he was teasing.

She managed to sit upright, propped against a mountain of pillows. Rio came back with the tea and Oreos, but a couple of slices of buttered toast as well. She gave him a look.

“At least try it?” Rio asked, rubbing her lower lip after putting the tray down. “It’s whole grain.”

Beth made a face.

“If I can’t get you to eat a full meal,” Rio said, brushing her hair back, “you’re gonna eat some toast.”

“Tyrant,” she shot back.

Rio smiled, then took a seat next to her. He picked up a triangle of toast and held it up to her lips. Still scowling, Beth opened her mouth and let him feed her a bite.

“Not so bad now, was it?” Rio kissed her cheek and took his own tea from the tray.

“What’s on the schedule for the day?” Beth asked.

“Work,” Rio said. “Marcus has baseball today too.”

Beth nodded. “I know. His uniform is all clean.” She laughed. “I have no idea how he gets so dirty. He’s got great coordination and doesn’t seem to have any trouble staying upright. But he’s got grass and dirt stains every time.”

Rio laughed with her. “I think you’re underestimating the interest that boys have in getting filthy at that age.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve had two go through that phase and believe me, Danny was not coordinated, but they never got _that_ dirty.”

“Guess we better hope it’s a girl, huh?”

Beth’s lips twitched. They’d decided to find out the sex of the baby, although were still unsure whether or not to tell everyone.

“You saying that girls aren’t messy?” Beth asked with a shake of her head.

“Oh, they’re messy,” Rio said. “But they’re like cats. Always landing on their feet.”

Beth poked him in the side at that mental image.

————————————

Marcus sat next to Beth on the couch, his small hand pressed against her belly. His eyes were massive. “It’s kicking!” He gasped, rubbing his hand a little.

“Yup,” Beth groaned. “Your little brother or sister loves doing that.”

He giggled, throwing his head back just like Rio did. “Then we can play soccer when you’re bigger,” he told her belly. “Daddy’s really good, so maybe we can team up against him.”

“I don’t think so,” Rio’s voice said from the direction of the kitchen. He’d arrived silently, though that shouldn’t have been a surprise. He moved so quietly most of the time. “Are you pestering Elizabeth?” He came in, still wearing a jacket and beanie.

“The baby’s kicking,” Marcus explained. “Beth said I could feel. It’s weird.”

Rio glanced at Beth, so she nodded. “As long as she gave you permission, then it’s okay.”

“I know, Dad,” Marcus sighed.

“You got your stuff ready?” Rio came to stand by the couch, ruffling Marcus’ hair. “Go get it, we don’t want to be late.”

Marcus didn’t scramble to get his stuff ready for baseball like he normally would. Instead, he bit his lip. “Can I give the baby a kiss?” His question was shy and the second it was out, Beth could tell that he was feeling self conscious, so she smiled and nodded.

“Sure, Marcus.”

He moved his hand over a little and bent down to kiss her belly near the place that the baby had been kicking. “I gotta go to baseball now,” he said when he pulled away and with a gap-toothed smile to Beth, he went to get changed.

Rio took his son’s spot on the couch. “You been okay?”

Beth sighed. “Tired and sore, but otherwise yeah.”

“She kicking?”

“The baby is kicking,” Beth poked him in the side, “which I’m choosing to blame you for.”

He shook his head, but his expression was fond as he bent down so that he was level with her belly. “Hey, don’t be so hard on your mama. She’s got to carry you around all day already. We gotta be nice to her.” He hesitated for a second, then placed his hand on her and rubbed. The next thing that he said was in Spanish. He’d taken to doing that sometimes, usually grinning mischievously at Beth as he did. 

“Can I give the baby a kiss?” He shifted his gaze to her face.

Beth drove her knee into his side, though it was a weak attempt. “Fine.”

“Thank you, mama.” He slid down to his knees on the ground. “Be good, yeah?”

“You talking to me or her?” Beth asked as he placed a soft, lingering kiss at the biggest part of her bump.

Chuckling, he rocked back and stood. “If it’s a girl, then there’s no chance in hell either of you would listen to me.”

“That’s sexist,” Beth settled back into the couch.

“No,” he reached out and tucked her hair back behind her ear. “I’m just saying - I’ve met you and your sister and your daughters. None of you listen to me.”

“Jane listens to you!” Beth protested.

“If I’m saying something that she likes,” Rio joked as Marcus reached the bottom of the stairs. “We all ready to go?”

He left, but when he was behind her, he ducked down to kiss the top of her head. “You be good too.”

—————————

Rio was grinning all the way home from the doctor’s office. They’d gotten some test results back and among all the other information had been one particular piece he’d been waiting for - it was a girl.

Neither of them had the kids for the night, so it was just the two of them, leading to a mostly quiet evening.

Up until Rio had asked about when they were gonna have the baby shower.

“Baby showers are typically all women,” Beth told him.

Rio scowled. “And? You’ve had four of those. I want to be there.”

She rolled her eyes, but pursed her lips and muttered, “Fine. I still get to plan it though.”

“Aren’t other people supposed to plan them?” Rio asked, rubbing lotion into her foot.

“Typically the first one gets planned by your mother, mother-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law,” Beth started listing off every possible woman relative that existed and Rio let her.

“So what you’re saying is that one of these people should be hosting,” Rio said eventually.

“No, I’m saying that four babies ago, they would have been doing that.”

He shook his head. “My ma will want to be involved. She can take care of it.”

Beth frowned. “I don’t want your mother to have to plan a baby shower.”

“She’ll be overjoyed,” Rio said. “I’ll pass Annie and Ruby’s contact info to her too.”

“Okay, I don’t want anyone planning the shower,” she said.

“Too bad,” he replied, digging his thumb into the arch of her foot. “You’re letting other people plan it, even if I gotta tie you to this bed to make sure you don’t tire yourself out.”

“I can plan a party, Rio.”

“Elizabeth,” he said, “you got this habit.”

Beth scowled at him. “Be careful what you say.”

“Of biting off more than you should, then insisting that you’re fine.” Rio adjusted his hold. 

Beth didn’t respond.

He manipulated her ankle. “Baby,” he sighed.

Beth glared at him.

“You mad at me?” he asked quietly.

Beth looked away. “No,” she mumbled. “I’m annoyed.”

He kept rubbing her foot. “Uh huh,” he said. “Tell me more.”

Rio led her through complaining about her day leading up to the doctor’s appointment, her hands, how she just had to pee all the time, the tone of voice that the tech had used.

“Feeling better?” he asked when she reached the end of her list of grievances.

Beth sighed. “A little.”

Rio smiled. “How about this,” he suggested, “you and my mom work on this thing together. It can be a bit of a housewarming and a baby shower. And we agree that on the day of, you let other people take care of things.”

“Rio -“

“Elizabeth,” he said, meeting her eye to eye, “I can’t do shit.”

Beth blinked. “What?”

“You’re doing all of this,” he set his hand on her belly, “and you’re dealing with high blood pressure too. There’s absolutely nothing that I can do. I can’t take any of that, I can’t fix it, make it easier for you.”

She softened and set her hand over his. “I don’t expect you to.”

He gave her a self-conscious smile. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I hate seeing you uncomfortable or in pain. Let me take care of you how I can, please?”

Beth looked at him. “Fine. I won’t plan it all. But I _will_ be involved.”

————————————————————

As advanced as she was in her pregnancy, Rio still wanted her. Really wanted her, actually.

“Think of it like some kind of caveman pride thing,” he told her. “You’ve got this big belly and my baby’s in there. It’s the hottest fucking sight.”

“Our baby,” Beth hissed as he thrust into her from behind, one of the few positions she could tolerate.

Rio chuckled. “Our baby. But a baby that I put there, nonetheless.”

He’d come up behind her sometimes as she was doing the laundry and tug up her skirt, yank her panties down. Sometimes they’d be watching TV and he would start kissing whatever part of her was within reach until the next thing she knew, he was balls deep and she’d already come twice.

He wouldn’t finish in her mouth, always pulling out before she got him there and when she asked what that was about, he just looked at her and said something in Spanish that she had no hope of following, despite her attempts to learn.

Then he had set his jaw. “Think about what you just asked me, Elizabeth. Think about who you’re sharing your body with.”

Beth’s cheeks had burned with a combination of embarrassment and arousal for ages after that. Then she had gone to look up whether or not that was something to be concerned about.

He liked stroking her belly, cradling it in his hands as he made love to her in the morning sunlight, when it was just the two of them in the house.

“I’m gigantic,” Beth complained, dropping onto the bed for an afternoon nap.

If Rio was around, he’d laugh and set his mouth over her belly. “You getting bigger?” he’d ask. “Good.”

Sometimes, it was just the two of them and Marcus, giving Beth even more insight into how Rio and his son got along. She learned that Marcus was neat and liked to keep things tidy, but got frustrated sometimes over little things not working out. Rio would get on eye level with him and talk him through it.

Rio’s mother started to spend time at the house as well.

“I’m not going to make you come visit me,” Isabel laughed. “You shouldn’t be driving anyways.”

Beth just agreed with her most of the time, saving most of her energy for discussions about the baby shower.

“We don’t need to invite everyone,” she grumbled to Rio when he came home one night.

“No?” Rio greeted her with a kiss. “Who’s my mother trying to invite now?”

“I think your old Sunday school teacher,” Beth said, rolling her eyes when Rio herded her towards the couch.

He laughed. “Don’t worry,” he assured her, “even if my mother does invite her, that woman’ll never show up. Doesn’t matter that I’m almost 40. We ain’t married.”

Beth snorted. “Really? Even with Marcus?”

“Only reason Mrs. G tolerates him is because my mom takes him to church with her sometimes and he’s polite. Me?” Rio shook his head. “I go to churches for funerals and weddings.”

“And other occasions,” Beth reminded him. They’d attended a baptism only weeks before.

Rio stroked her belly. “Okay, fine, I go to church if I receive an invitation.”

Beth hummed.

“The crib get delivered today?”

She nodded. “All set up,” she said. “I didn’t touch a thing.”

“Good girl,” he teased. “Wanna show me how it looks?”

“You’ve seen it!” Beth protested, even as she let him pull her up.

Rio just smiled. “Well, I wanna see it again.”

Most of the furniture in the baby’s room had arrived and been put together. A few pieces, like the rocking chair, Beth had owned since Kenny was a newborn and hadn’t been able to part with.

Neither of them had particularly liked the idea of a pink room, which had led them to choosing a soft yellow for the walls that contrasted nicely with the white crib and change table.

Rio had taken it upon himself to ensure that the walls were decorated, but he couldn’t do anything half-way it seemed, so he’d hired someone he knew to paint little animals all around the room at about waist height. When Beth had seen the baby ducks trailing after the mama duck, she’d had to leave the room because she started crying. Even Annie had been charmed by them.

Beth sighed, taking it all in.

“You finish that blanket?” Rio asked, walking to the rocking chair and picking up the blanket that Beth had been knitting. 

“Yup,” she replied.

He held it up. She’d done it in an ombre pattern, moving from cream to a deep turquoise. “It’s gorgeous,” he told her, smiling, then folded it carefully again.

“I’m happy with it,” Beth said. 

Rio came back to stand in front of her in the doorway and bent down to kiss her.

“You hungry?” she asked when he straightened up. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

“Sounds perfect.”

——————————————————

Rio’s friends, thankfully, didn’t have a problem interacting with Beth’s.

“Never thought I’d get invited to a baby shower,” one of them, Lou, said when he came in with his girlfriend. He and Beth had only met once before, but he bent to give her a kiss on the cheek. “This is Stephanie,” he introduced the woman at his side.

“Thanks for the invite,” Stephanie said.

Rio clapped a hand onto Lou’s shoulder and did one of those half-hug, half-chest bump things. “He managed to drag you here?” he said to Stephanie, offering her a smile and a less elaborate hug.

“Oh believe me,” Stephanie said in a perfect deadpan, “I’m hoping that the sight of all the tiny little outfits and whatnot will convince Lou that we should start trying.”

Beth watched Lou’s head fall back as he muttered something at the ceiling. She laughed as the pair walked towards the table that had somehow filled up despite Beth saying that they didn’t really need anything. She was getting suspicious that Rio had circulated some kind of list amongst his associates.

Rio’s mother gave Lou a hug on her way towards them, patting his arm and then wagging her finger at him.

Rio wrapped himself around her back, hands on her belly. “You feeling okay?” He asked. “Tired?”

“I’m pregnant, Rio,” she said, “not 90.”

She could practically feel his scowl. “You’re growing another person, Elizabeth. It’s natural to feel tired.”

Beth met Isabel’s eyes and rolled her own, but the other woman looked like she was about to put her hand over her heart and sigh.

“Is that everyone?” Isabel asked.

Beth shook her head. “Still a few more.”

Isabel nodded. “You should go sit, Elizabeth. Being on your feet too much at this point must be tiring.”

Beth nearly threw up her hands. “I’m fine,” she said. “Like I told Rio.”

Rio’s hand rubbed up and down over her belly. “Just trying to take care of you, mami.”

Isabel gave her son a happy nod. One of the things that Beth had learned since moving in with Rio is that he was a mama’s boy. Not in the same way that Dean had, where he relied on his mother to handle everything and prop him up. But as far as Isabel was concerned, Rio was her little angel. And Rio acted like it too. If his mother needed something done, Rio did it. He helped fix things around the house, gave her thoughtful gifts at every holiday. Sent her flowers just because.

“Gave her enough stress when I was still living in her house,” he had laughed when Beth asked about it. “Least I can do is help out now.”

“What if I say my feet are tired?” He straightened up so he wasn’t leaning on her. “Will you come sit with me then?”

Beth sighed, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. “Fine.”

Hand on her lower back, Rio guided her to the couch where everyone scrambled upright to give them a seat. She pursed her lips, but accepted the seat rather than making a scene.

Emma ran over and climbed onto the couch next to her. “Are you going to open presents soon?”

Beth put her hand on her daughter’s hair. “You want to help?”

Emma nodded.

“Okay, but if the others want to help too, you have to take turns,” Beth warned her.

Emma nodded again and burrowed under Beth’s arm to press against her side.

Rio’s laugh was quiet, more of a breath than anything.

Eventually, the last few attendees arrived, which the kids took to mean that it was time for Beth and Rio to open some presents.

“Honey,” Beth told Marcus as he started to ferry gifts from the table to the couch, “normally we spend some time together before we do this.”

Marcus paused, then set down the package that was in his hands. “But that’s at birthday parties,” he reasoned. “This is different.”

Rio snorted.

But, it was already too late, people had started gathering in the living room from wherever else they’d been - the kitchen, the yard.

It filled Beth with a sense of pride having people smiling and laughed, eating and drinking, in her house. It was always something that she’d liked doing, but it had almost stopped being fun in recent years. Between all the restrictions at the school about ingredients and the difficulty of getting Dean to agree to hosting, it had seemed more like work than anything.

She wasn’t going to tell Rio that he was right, but having Isabel, as well as Ruby and Annie, helping had lightened the burden considerably. It had been fun, planning things and having other people do all the work. 

Everything started well, going through the gifts, until Marcus passed her a small box.

Reading the card, Beth decided that either Lou had a hidden talent for gift wrapping or Stephanie had done that particular task. Beth passed the card to Rio to read as she slipped her finger under the tape and carefully unwrapped a box. Opening it, Beth unwrapped a pair of tiny Converse. Black, of course.

“Gotta match her pops,” Lou commented from his spot leaning against the wall.

Staring at the small shoes, Beth started to cry.

“Oh fuck,” she heard Lou mutter.

“Nah, she’s good,” Rio said as he tugged her against his side, “she just does this.”

“It’s a -“ Beth hiccoughed, “really great party trick.”

Beth’s mind was supplying her with an image of Rio sitting on a park bench, dressed head to toe in black, a baby dressed in a matching outfit on his lap.

“They’re lovely,” she assured Lou, playing with the tiny laces.

“Aww man,” Demon said, coming back into the room. “Who got her to cry first?”

When Lou raised his hand, Demon pointed to another one of Rio’s friends. “You owe me $20.”

Rio looked like he was about to protest, but Beth just started laughing, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. “What was the bet?” she asked.

“I said you wouldn’t make it through the gifts,” Demon said with a grin.

“Remind me to murder him later,” Rio murmured into Beth’s ear, rubbing his hand up her arm. “You good?”

She nodded.

The rest of the baby shower was mostly uneventful - Beth had banned all games, uninterested in people guessing her weight or sniffing chocolate smeared on diapers.

As the afternoon wore on, people started to trickle back out of the house, giving hugs and kisses all around.

“Is everyone you know this affectionate?” Beth asked Rio.

“More or less,” he said with a shrug before pulling away to give a back slapping hug to someone she was pretty sure was a cousin.

“Take care of our boy, Beth,” the cousin said, rubbing over Rio’s head and earning himself a quick shot to the stomach. “Clearly he can’t take care of himself.”

Beth smiled. “Will do. Although I think he does a pretty good job of it himself.”

Rio’s cousin laughed. “Gonna have to disagree with you there,” he said. “Next time, I’ll tell you about the summer of ‘99.”

“What happened in the summer of ‘99?” Beth wanted to know, but Rio refused to answer.

Dinner, despite being only immediate family and closest friends, was no less boisterous than the shower and Beth was ready to fall asleep even before they’d finished eating.

Rio noticed, but didn’t say anything, just tugged her chair a little closer to his and pulled her towards him so she could rest her head on his shoulder. She was forbidden from participating in clean-up, so she took a short nap on the couch, only waking to say goodbye to everyone, then herding the kids to their rooms.

“No arguing,” Beth cut Jane off before she could ask to stay up later. “It’s been a long day for all of us.”

Jane pouted, but got ready for bed without complaint. The older kids could be trusted to fall asleep on their own, but Beth made sure they were all in their rooms before heading to her own bed.

When Beth walked into the bedroom, she saw that Rio was holding the Chucks. “Damn, these things are tiny,” he commented, holding them up.

Beth sat on the bed and groaned as she leaned back. Rio helped her get situated against the pillows, then picked the shoes up again. He turned on his side and set them on her belly, slipping his fingers into them so that he could walk them across the bump. Beth giggled.

Her laughter cut off when the baby kicked.

“Ey, ey,” Rio set the shoes aside and set his hand over the spot where the baby was playing soccer against her insides. “Mommy’s had a long day,” he told the baby, bending so his mouth was hovering over her belly. “I know you’re getting excited to be here, you musta heard all those people talking about you today.”

Beth settled her hand on the back of his head and stroked the soft hairs near the nape of his neck. He smiled up at her.

“But you need to wait a little bit longer,” he said. “Get a bit bigger and stronger, okay? Then you can come out and play with your brothers and your sisters, cause all kinds of chaos.”

Beth smiled at that.

“Ready to live with a newborn again?” Beth asked him, scratching his head.

“Yeah.” He palmed her belly and rubbed back and forth. “Specially this one. She’s gonna be a troublemaker.”

Beth laughed. “How do you know that? Maybe she’ll be well behaved, just like Marcus.”

Rio shook his head. “Nah, that’s Nat. You met her, she’s calm and reasonable. You though?” He made a noise.

“Hey!” She kneed him in the side.

“See?” He sat up, still touching her bump. “You ain’t calm or reasonable.”

Beth opened her mouth to scold him, only he kissed her. “That’s why I love you,” he said. “I don’t wonder what you’re thinking or feeling. You show me and you tell me. And when it comes to your babies, there’s nothing you won’t do. Now you’re gonna be like that with my baby.”

She stroked the side of his face as he looked down at her through half-lidded eyes.

“She’s gonna be a pain in the ass,” he finished. “But more than worth it.”

“Don’t call her a pain in the ass!”

Rio laughed. “You’re the one complaining about your back hurting.”

“That’s not my ass,” Beth retorted.

“Mmm,” he agreed, “but what a nice ass it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd, as always, by the wonderful medievalraven and neveroffanon. Thank you to them and to everyone that reads and leaves kudos/comments! Title from Tove Lo's "Disco Tits". If there's content that should be warned for, please let me know.


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